An Ancient Evil
by Mystical Jade
Summary: A Sailor Moon/Ronin Warrior x-over. Something comes into the Scout's world, and they must figure out what it is. Read and Review, please! [Status: Complete]
1. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 1

AAE01 ****

I do not own the rights to neither Sailor Moon nor the Ronin Warriors (I wish I did, I'd be rich)! The following fanfic is strictly for your entertainment. Enjoy.

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AN - _OK, this may not make sense time-wise. This takes place after the Sailor Scouts defeat Queen Beryl, but before the Doom Tree Series with Alan and Anne. However, unlike what really happened, the Scouts retained their identity and powers in case any threats were to surface._

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An Ancient Evil

Chapter 1

"Serena," Rei said to her friend, who was stuffing her face with food, "you really shouldn't eat so much!"

"Yeah, Serena," Mina added. "Now that the Negaverse is no longer a threat, you'll gain weight because we're not getting as much exercise as before."

"Oh stop nagging me you guys," Serena retorted between chewing. She swallowed the food that was in her mouth and added, "Besides, I get plenty of exercise running to school every morning."

"She's got a point," Amy and Lita said in unison. All the girls began to laugh, except for Rei.

Serena, Lita, Mina, Amy, and Rei, also known as the Sailor Scouts, were sitting at their favorite after-school hangout. With the defeat of the Negaverse and Queen Beryl, the five friends were finally able to hang out and act like normal teenagers. However, they did not forget their roles as the protectors of Tokyo, and held weekly Scout meetings and Rei's Temple.

"Well, if you guys are finished goofing off, we should head over to the Temple," Rei said. At that point, Rei's friends knew not to further upset their temperamental friend. Amy waved for the waitress to bring them their tab. Once the bill was paid for, the five girls got up to head towards the temple.

*****

Four figures, shrouded in shadow, knelt in front of what looked like a holographic picture of a floating head -- and an angry looking one at that. The figures appeared to be battered and bruised, as if they had just returned from some sort of battle. These four figures, Anubis, Sekhmet, Kale, and Dais, were four of the five dark Warlords of the Dynasty. The four men were waiting for their Master, Lord Talpa, to speak.

"You have failed to destroy those pests once again," Talpa said to the men.

"Master Talpa," Anubis began, "it's that blasted Ancient who interferes and ruins our plans."

"Anubis," Talpa said, "you can not blame your failure on the Ancient. You are young and naïve, and have much to learn. And I expect the three of you to help him learn from his mistakes."

"Lord Talpa, if I may say something," a woman's voice said from behind the four Warlords.

"Ah, yes. Lady Kayura," Talpa replied. "Step forth."

The fifth and final member of the dark Warlords joined her kneeling companions on the floor. "Thank you, my Master," Kayura began. "I believe that I may have a plan that will prove useful. Here, the Ronin Warriors have a slight advantage over our forces. This is especially evident since all of our efforts to destroy them have been futile." She smiled slightly when she noticed the sneers upon the other Warlords faces.

"How dare you, Kayura," Sekhmet growled. "You have done nothing to stop the Ronin Warriors. Therefore you have no right to speak of the matter."

"Silence," Talpa yelled. "Continue, Kayura."

"My plan involves going to Tokyo in an alternate dimension, where the Ancient can not follow," Kayura continued. "If we lure the Ronins there and destroy them, we will be able to take over this world with no further problems."

"Excellent plan, Kayura," Dais said sarcastically. "And how do you propose we get there?"

"Are we to sprout wings and fly," Kale asked, trying to contain his laughter.

"As a matter of fact, yes, in a sense," Kayura shot back.

"I don't understand, Kayura. Enlighten me," Talpa demanded.

"Well, you see, sir," she began, "I have already talked to the Nether Spirits and it can be done with the use of a portal. They have already given me the power to create this portal. We can send the four Warlords through the portal and - -"

"Let me get one thing straight," Talpa cut in. "You contacted the Spirits, without my permission?"

Kayura suddenly realized the grave mistake she had made and cleared her throat nervously. "Y-yes, Master, I did."

"I see," Talpa paused before continuing. "The plan seems like a sound one. The four of you, under the leadership of Lady Kayura, will go," Talpa concluded.

"B-but Master, I did not intend on going," Kayura said, as she was shocked at what she had just heard. "If I go, who will stay to protect you?"

"If you lure the Ronins into the trap, then I will not need protection," Talpa replied. "The Ancient is smart enough not to attack my castle. You four prepare to leave," he said, looking at the men. "Kayura, stay behind for a moment."

After Anubis, Sekhmet, Kale, and Dais left the room, Kayura turned to Talpa. "Yes, Lord Talpa?"

"I'm sending you with the other Warlords so that you will learn patience," Talpa said. "Never take action without my permission ever again. Now go." She obeyed quickly and followed the other Warlords from Talpa's throne room. As she disappeared from the room, Talpa said, "Do not fail me, Kayura. The consequences will be severe."

*****

"That last battle with the Warlords was too easy," Sage said in a voice that was full of concern.

"I agree," Ryo said. "Do you suppose they have something else planned?"

"I doubt it, Ryo," Rowen said. "We thrashed them pretty good. I don't think that they'll be bothering us for at least one day."

"I say we attack them head-on," Kento suggested as he balled his fists. "I can go for another round. And you guys probably could, too."

"That's not a good idea, Kento," Sai said. "Although they would never expect such an aggressive movement, we're not at our full fighting capabilities. And to make it an even worse plan, they would have the advantage over us."

"It seems like a good plan, but Sai has a point, Kento," Mia added as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Failure would be inevitable."

"And you guys might die," Yuli added in a scared voice.

"Don't worry, kiddo," Ryo said with a smile. "We won't do anything rash!"

"Quake with Fear," Anubis shouted, using his special attack. The five Ronin Warriors looked up in surprise. However, before any of them could react, Anubis' chains had formed around the Ronins, and had entrapped them. They took notice as the three other Warlords as well as a woman clad in armor, appeared alongside Anubis.

"Anubis! What are you doing," Ryo demanded. He sighed in relief when he realized that none of the Warlords had noticed Mia and Yuli, who were hiding behind a bench.

"We," he answered, motioning towards his companions, "are finally going to get a fair fight."

"That's right," Sekhmet added, "and this time you will surely lose."

"Without the help of that old man, you'll be as helpless as sheep are in the presence of wolves," Kale finished.

"Quiet Anubis, Sekhmet, and Kale," Kayura ordered. "Dais is the only one of you with enough sense to keep silent." She glared at the other Warlords and gave them an evil smile. "It's no wonder you can never win. You talk too much."

"Who are you," Kento demanded. The other Ronin Warriors were wondering the same exact thing. None of them had ever seen this woman before.

Lady Kayura turned back to face the Ronins. "In time you will know my name and fear it," she answered, narrowing her eyes. Suddenly, her hands began to glow and she began chanting an incantation. "Nether Spirits, come to my aid. Come forth and serve me, your dark master. Create for me a portal of time and space." The glow from her hands turned into a black, eerie light. The energy left her hands and swirled together, forming the portal that would send them all into an alternative dimension. "OK, men," Kayura ordered. "Let's go."

Anubis separated his weapon from the chains that bound the Ronin Warriors, and threw them into the portal. Then the five Warlords stepped inside and disappeared. As the portal began to close, White Blaze jumped in after the ten warriors. Mia and Yuli came out from their hiding place and were about to follow when suddenly a staff flew down in their path. As the portal closed, the Ancient, who seemed to come out of thin air, materialized next to his staff.

"Why did you do that," Mia demanded, pulling Yuli to her protectively. "Now we can't follow them!"

"If the two of you followed, you would only be in the way of the Ronin Warriors," he answered. He turned and began to walk away. "Follow me, and I shall protect you with all of my power."

Mia took one last look at the place where the portal had been only seconds before and sighed. "Come on, Yuli," she told the small boy as she grabbed his hand and followed the monk.

*****

"Rei," Serena whined, "do we have to do this? We destroyed the Negaverse ages ago! There's no longer any threat."

"Honestly, Serena. I don't understand why you're our leader. You're such a crybaby, Meatball-Head," Rei snickered.

"OK you two," Lita broke in. "Let's just do this so we can all go home."

"Yes, please," Amy added. "I've got homework to do as well as five tests to study for. The sooner we finish here, the sooner I can start."

"Well, if Serena is done whining, we can start," Rei said, glancing at her friend with a demeaning look on her face. "Now, then... Oh Great Spirits of Fire. Show us the evils that threaten to invade." As usual, the fire burned silently.

"See, Rei," Serena stated. "There's nothing to worry about! No one would dare to invade while the Sailor Scouts are around!" She stood up and stretched her arms and legs. "I'm going home, now, to get some sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

All of a sudden, the room became dim. The girls looked towards the fire, and instead of a red flame, there was a black one in its' place. The fire then exploded in a burst of hot flame and began to roar violently. The dark flame casts shadows on the wall that took the form of warriors. Then, just as suddenly as it had began, the fire returned to normal. The girls glanced at one another with a _"what just happened"_ look on each of their faces. After several moments of silence, Serena was the first to speak.

"What was that? Rei, does that mean that there's . . . something out there," she asked with concern in her eyes.

"I don't know, Serena," Rei replied. Her voice sounded just as confused as all the girls looked.

"Amy, scan the city with your computer and see if anything comes up," Serena ordered. The girls looked at Serena as if she had grown a second head. "Am I your leader, or not," Serena demanded angrily. "Sailor Mercury, do as I said." Serena paused for a second and then said, "Please."

Amy nodded her head and took out her pocket-sized computer. She began to type in a various sequence of buttons, and she scanned over the information on the screen. "According to this, there's some sort of disturbance in the eastern side of town."

"Alright, girls," Serena said. "Let's go check it out. But we won't transform just yet." With that, she turned and walked out the door. The other Scouts followed their leader out the door. Once they were all outside, they ran eastward. "Amy, take the lead since you have the coordinates," Serena said.

As the girls followed Amy's lead, they ran in silence for a distance. "Hey Serena," Mina said, running beside her. "I like the way you took charge back there. It was great!"

"Yeah," Lita added, jogging beside the two girls. "You should have seen the look on Rei's face. It was hilarious!"

Serena smiled at the compliments she had received. _"Wow,"_ she thought. _"Maybe I should be more authoritative all the time!"_ The girls continued to run, disappearing into the night.

*****

At the same moment that Rei was contacting the Fire Spirits in her Temple, a black portal opened and released the Warlords of the Dynasty in the city. They were standing on top of a tall building as they scanned the city.

"So this is Tokyo," Kayura stated. "It's not very impressive."

"We could take control here in no time at all. How pathetic," Anubis sneered.

"Damn," Sekhmet uttered. "Where are the Ronins?"

Dais scanned the rooftop and the surrounding area for any sign of the Ronin Warriors. "I guess that the Nether Spirits miscalculated the coordinates."

"This was indeed an unforeseen occurrence," Kayura said, facing the other four Warlords. "But as Lord Talpa would say, we must not blame our screw up on anyone besides ourselves. We should have all came through at the same time."

"Always trying to be the good little soldier, eh Kayura," Kale said. "It's sickening. For once, just listen to yourself talking, and you'll hear the same thing we all hear."

"Yes," Sekhmet began, "well the hunt is part of the fun."

"And what's that, Kale," Kayura asked, ignoring Sekhmet's comment.

"Your insecurities of being inferior to the rest of us," Kale replied. "You're so afraid of failing Master Talpa. The very thought of being under your leadership makes me sick."

Once again, Kayura's hands began to glow. "If you do not wish to stay and carry out the wishes of our master," she began, "I will gladly send you back, Kale." She opened up another portal. "Come, soldiers," she ordered. As twelve of the Dynasty's soldiers came out of the portal, she stepped aside. "Split into two teams and track down the Ronins. Report back to me once you find them." The soldiers bowed and departed, dividing into two teams of six, and going into separate directions. Kayura tuned to Kale. "Here's your chance, Kale," she said. She smiled when he crossed his arms across his chest and turned his back to her. "I thought as much," she taunted.

"Will you both stop your arguing," Anubis said with his on edge. "We don't have time for your damned quarrels."

"Anubis is right," Dais added. "We must prepare for the upcoming battle."

*****

"The disturbance is coming from behind that building," Amy told her friends, pointing towards an abandoned warehouse. They had finally pinpointed the location of the disturbance.

"Should we transform now," Mina asked, turning towards Serena.

"Now that would be a neat trick considering you girls don't have your transformation pens," Artemis said from behind the Scouts.

"That was a good one, Artemis," Luna said, appearing beside him. Both Luna and Artemis, talking cats sent to track down the Sailor Scouts, were the girls' guardians, as well as their advisors.

"Luna, Artemis," Serena exclaimed. "How did you find us?"

"We have our ways, Serena," Luna said. "That's why we are called your guardians."

"We couldn't let you rush into any battles, now could we," Artemis asked. He jumped into the air, and a transformation pen appeared in the hands of each of the girls, except for Serena.

"Excuse me, but are you forgetting something," Serena asked.

"Oh, right," Luna said. She jumped into the air, just as Artemis had done. Instead of getting a transformation pen like the rest of the Scouts, a locket appeared in Serena's hands.

"Thanks," she said, placing the locket in the middle of the bow on the front of her school uniform. After it was in its' place, she smiled.

"Serena," Rei began, "I suggest we get going."

"Right. We should probably sneak around the side of the warehouse to the back," Serena replied.

As Luna and Artemis watched the girls disappear around the building, Luna said, "Did you notice anything different, Artemis?"

"Actually, yes," he answered. "Serena was taking control of the situation and acting as leader! Unless, of course, my imagination is playing tricks on me."

"No, I think you're right, Artemis," Luna replied. "And it's about time."

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To Be Continued . . . .


	2. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 2

AAE02 ****

I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story. All other disclaimers apply. Enjoy!

AN - _If you're not too familiar with the Ronin Warriors, they have 2 different suits of armor that they battle in: their sub-armor (which they usually wear instead of regular clothes), and their battle armor (when they call for it). Well, on to the story._

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An Ancient Evil

Chapter 2

"Ugh," Sage mumbled, slowly opening his eyes. "Where am I?" He remembered what had happened and quickly sat up. "Ronins, where are you," he yelled out. He sighed in relief when he spotted the others. "Ryo, Sai, Kento, Rowen," he said, shaking each one as he said their name. Slowly everyone had been woken up and brought to his senses. The five warriors stood and took in their surroundings. Just as the Warlords, the Ronin Warriors found themselves on the roof of a building.

"Where are we," Kento asked.

"It looks like Tokyo, but very, very different," Ryo answered.

"Do you think Mia, Yuli, and White Blaze are here somewhere," Rowen wondered out loud.

"I doubt that the Ancient would allow them to follow us," Sai commented. "Not when we're in a situation like this."

"Yes, and I'm sure that White Blaze is here somewhere," Ryo said, stretching out his sore muscles. He chuckled a little. "Not even an army could stop that cat." His demeanor grew serious once again. "But first things first. Where are we and why are we here?"

"I vaguely remember the Warlords mentioning a fair fight and taking us somewhere that the Ancient can't follow," Sage replied. "And when I woke up, we were all here."

"Yeah, but something else happened first," Sai thought out loud. "Oh yeah, I remember now. That woman who was with Anubis, Sekhmet, Kale, and Dais made the portal, and we were thrown in."

"Just who was she," Kento asked.

"Whoever she was, she's obviously in charge," Rowen said.

Ryo nodded in agreement. "We should first establish where we are. I suggest we take off our armor and find a way to get down from here."

"Good idea," Sage reasoned, "then we should be able to blend in with no problems."

After their sub-armor had been taken off, the five friends, dressed in normal clothing, jumped to an adjacent building. They then climbed down the fire escape ladder and found themselves in an alley leading to the street. They all took deep breaths, and stepped out into the busy nightlife.

*****

Serena, Rei, Amy, Mina, and Lita stood together, ready to go around the corner of an abandoned warehouse in eastern Tokyo. The friends stood listening to what sounded like metal clanging together. However, the strangest thing of all was that they thought they heard growls from some sort of animal. The reason they were there was because earlier that night, at a weekly fire reading at Rei's Temple, the five girls were alerted to some sort of disturbance in the city. It would appear that the fire was correct.

"What do you think that is," Serena asked. They others only shrugged their shoulders in response. "I guess there's only one way to find out, then," she said. Although her words seemed brave, she was terrified. However, her fear did not come from the sounds she heard. She was more scared of the possibility that the Negaverse had returned. Serena squared her shoulders and motioned for the Scouts to follow. The girls went around the corner, and what they saw made their blood run cold.

"Oh my God," they all gasped. A short distance away from where they stood were six of the twelve Dynasty soldiers that Kayura sent. They were twice as tall as any of the Scouts and held a variety of different weapons.

"What are those things," Lita asked in a horrified whisper.

_"Even the bravest of us is scared,"_ Serena thought sadly. Then she said, "They look like some sort of soldiers."

"Well that's pretty obvious Serena," Rei said dryly.

"Don't start with Serena, Rei," Mina snapped. "We're all scared."

"Well, I typed in some info into my computer," Amy stated. "They're definitely not of this world. And you know what that may mean."

"Look," Lita said, regaining her composure. "Those things are attacking something. It looks like . . . a tiger," she finished, sounding as confused as she looked.

"Well, then we have no time to sit here talking," Serena said, posing in a fighting stance. "Sailor Scouts . . . _transform!_"

"Mercury Star Power!"

"Mars Star Power!"

"Jupiter Star Power!"

"Venus Star Power!"

"Moon Crystal Power!"

Luna and Artemis heard the girls calling for their powers. They looked at each other and ran off in the direction the Scouts had gone. The cats reached the girls just as they finished transforming. "Ser- uh, Sailor Moon, what's going on," Luna asked.

"There's no time to explain, Luna," Sailor Moon answered. "Let's go, girls," she shouted, running in the direction of the soldiers. The other Scouts followed without hesitation.

"So," the lead Dynasty soldier said, "it would appear that the Ronins' animal followed us here. Destroy it, men."

White Blaze began to back away from the advancing soldiers and uttered a low growl. They charged at the tiger, swinging their weapons. White Blaze dodged most of the attacks, but one of the soldiers landed a hit, slicing open one side of the tiger wide open. Blood trickled down from the cut and stained the ground red.

"This was almost too easy," the lead soldier said, raising his weapon to finish off the animal.

"Hold it right there, Nega-trash!"

All six of the Dynasty soldiers turned towards the voice. "And who are you," the leader demanded.

"I am Sailor Moon! I protect all that is pure and good," she said angrily. "How dare you harm that animal? In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

"I am Sailor Mercury. In the name of Mercury, I will punish you!"

"I am Sailor Mars. In the name of Mars, I will punish you!"

"I am Sailor Jupiter. In the name of Jupiter, I will punish you!"

"I am Sailor Venus. In the name of Venus, I will punish you!"

"We are the Sailor Scouts," they all shouted.

"I don't know what Nega-trash is. We are of the Dynasty," the leader replied. "Weaklings do not concern us. Kill them."

"I've got the leader," Sailor Moon said. "You guys get the rest," she ordered, running towards the lead soldier. She jumped into the air to attempt kicking the leader in his head from above. When she was about to land her attack, he swung his scythe-like weapon, striking Sailor Moon with the flat side. She fell to the ground almost instantly, bouncing a couple of times. She struggled to her feet, but fell to her knees and grasped her side in pain.

"Finish her off," the lead soldier said to one of his men, backing away from the battle to watch. "I don't think that I'll waste any of my time to kill her."

Sailor Moon looked up at the soldier, who now towered over her more than before. He raised the sword that he held, ready to strike her down. As the soldier brought his arm down, White Blaze grabbed the soldier's forearm and flung him to the side. Sailor Moon got to her feet as quickly as she could manage and put her hand up to her forehead. "Moon . . . Tiara . . . Magic," she yelled out, sending the disc flying towards the soldier. The disc hit him directly in the chest, and instead of turning to dust, smoke escaped from the helmet and torso of the armor as it fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, the other Scouts were fighting the remaining four soldiers. Jupiter roundhouse kicked one of the soldiers and destroyed it while Mercury and Venus ganged up on another. Mars, on the other hand, destroyed one by using Mars Fire Ignite. Then the four girls surrounded the remaining soldier and the one that Mercury and Venus had ganged up on, since they were unable to destroy it on their own. As the two soldiers stood back to back, Jupiter and Mars jumped up at the same time and kicked them into each other. As the smoke from the destroyed soldiers cleared, the four Scouts joined Sailor Moon and faced the leader of the Dynasty's soldiers.

_"I must report this to Lady Kayura,"_ he thought. "Very impressive," he said sarcastically. "But not nearly enough to destroy me." He turned and began to run from the girls.

"I don't think so Dynasty-trash," Sailor Moon said, changing her phrase. "Moon Tiara Magic!" As the disc flew towards the fleeing soldier, Jupiter used her Thunderclap Zap. The ball of electricity joined the tiara, and when the supercharged disc hit the soldier, there was a huge, bright explosion. Once the last of the soldiers was destroyed, the girls turned their attention to the injured tiger.

*****

"We're never going to find out why we're here," Kento growled. "The people in this city are rude and . . ."

"Don't worry Kento," Ryo interrupted. "We'll figure this all out. The Warlords wouldn't just leave us here."

"They need us destroyed so that they can obtain our armors," Rowen added. "That's what Talpa is after."

"Where do you suppose they are anyway," Sai asked.

"I don't know, but if I don't get some action soon, I'll go crazy," Kento replied. "This whole situation is lame."

"Well, if you're looking for action, I think we just found it," Sage commented, pointing towards a bright flash of light. "Unless I'm mistaken, that wasn't a normal light."

"Alright! Finally, something to do," Kento exclaimed, running off towards the light that was disappearing.

"Kento, wait," Ryo shouted, running after his friend, and motioning for the other Ronin Warriors to follow. "We don't know this city or its dangers."

Kento stopped running to wait for the others to catch up. "Come on, man! Where's your sense of adventure? Could we at least check it out? It couldn't possibly be that bad."

Ryo looked at the others. "Well, maybe we should check it out," he finally concluded. "After all, we don't want the Warlords running loose in this city." As Kento turned to leave, Ryo grabbed him by the arm. "But we will not rush into any battle. I promised Yuli that we'd be careful." After Ryo was sure Kento understood what actions were to be taken, he released his arm. The Ronins then began to once again run in the direction from which they had seen the light. Five minutes later, they slowed their pace as some abandoned buildings came into view. They came to a stop and took in their surroundings.

"Man! I guess that it was just a false alarm," Kento said with a lot of disappointment in his voice. "Looks like we're back to where we started."

"I don't know," Sage replied. "I know what I saw and I . . ."

"Quiet," Ryo hissed. He motioned for the Ronins to come closer to him. "I think that I hear some voices."

They listened in silence for a few seconds. "Yes, I think I can hear them, too," Sai said.

Ryo pointed in the direction from which the voices were coming and the five warriors silently walked in that direction. As they got closer, they could hear the voices more clearly.

"I think we should just call the proper authorities and leave it here," said one of the voices.

"I don't think so, Sailor Mercury," came another voice.

"Get off it, Sailor Moon. For once use your brain," came a third voice.

"Mars, she has a point," said a fourth voice.

"Jupiter, you're always taking her side," Sailor Mars said.

"And you're always putting her down," said a fifth voice.

"Venus," Sailor Mars began, "don't you start, too. This thing could be dangerous. We don't know where it came from."

"That _thing_ just saved my life," Sailor Moon said angrily. "And while we're sitting here arguing, he's bleeding to death."

"It seems like there's five people," Ryo said. "But what are they talking about?" He peeked around the side of the building, and gasped in horror. "White Blaze," he screamed, running towards the startled girls. The other Ronins followed from their hiding place.

Sailor Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus formed a semi-circle around Sailor Moon and the injured tiger. They each got into defensive stances. "Who are you," Mars demanded. "And who is White Blaze?"

"What did you do to my tiger," Ryo asked almost hysterically. Ryo looked at White Blaze and saw that his eyes were closed and that there was a large pool of blood underneath him. "If he's dead I'll . . ."

"Ryo," Sage said calmly. "Please, settle down."

"Who are you girls, and what happened here," Rowen asked.

"We're the Sailor Scouts," Mars began, "and . . ."

"AND WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR ANY OF THIS RIGHT NOW," Sailor Moon yelled. Tears had formed in her eyes and began to roll down her cheeks. "If we don't do something really soon, he'll die," she whimpered as she stroked the tiger's head.

"Sailor Moon," Mercury began. "Don't cry. We'll figure out something."

"There is one way," Luna suddenly said as she and Artemis jumped down from one of the empty boxes that lay nearby. She ignored the shocked looks on the faces of the Ronins as she continued, "You girls form a circle around the tiger and hold hands. Now, say Sailor Scout Healing Power." As the girls did what they were told, two beams of light came down from the sky; each one going directly to the crescent moon on Luna's and Artemis' forehead. As the crescents began to glow, the beams shot out and joined together. "Now Sailor Moon, take the Silver Emperial Crystal and place it on the tiger's forehead." As soon as she did what she was told, the beam shot through the crystal and White Blaze began to glow a variety of colors: blue, red, green, orange, and finally silvery-white. When the glowing stopped, White Blaze opened his eyes. Luna and Artemis sighed in relief.

"White Blaze," Ryo exclaimed as he rushed towards his tiger. The Scouts parted so that Ryo could reach his pet. He dropped to his knees to further inspect White Blaze for anymore injuries. "Thank God you're alright," he said in a hoarse voice. The four other Ronins joined their leaders' side.

Meanwhile, Luna and Artemis moved closer to Sailor Moon. "Oh Luna," Sailor Moon cried, picking up her cat and hugging her. "Thank you. Thank you so very much."

__

To Be Continued . . .


	3. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 3

AAE03 ****

I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story. All other disclaimers apply. Enjoy!

An Ancient Evil

Chapter 3

"Kayura," Kale began, "it would seem that your soldiers have failed. It's been too long. Why have they not returned?"

"Perhaps they haven't found anything to report, Kale," she replied, glaring at the Warlord.

"Don't forget, Kale, that her failure is also ours," Dais said. "Although none of us may like this situation, we must work as a unified team for the time being. The soldiers will turn up something."

"Yes, patience is a virtue," Kayura stated.

Sekhmet snorted. "Funny you should say that, Kayura," he said as he turned to face her. "I overheard what Lord Talpa said to you," he continued, as he stepped in front of Kayura and looked down at her. "The only reason he even sent you along with us was so you would learn patience. You're nothing more than his lap dog."

"That may be so, but I'm loyal to our Master, and do not speak treason," she replied. In one swift movement, Kayura released one of her Starlight swords from its' sheath and extended it towards Sekhmet's throat. "And now you walk on dangerous ground," she said in a threatening tone. She pushed her sword a bit further and smiled evilly when a dot of blood stained the tip of her weapon. "Do not mock me, Sekhmet. Ever."

"Enough Lady Kayura," Anubis said as he grabbed her wrist and roughly pulled her away from Sekhmet. "The three of you bicker as children would," he continued, looking at Kayura, Kale, and Sekhmet respectively. "I'll be surprised if we're able to successfully carry out Master Talpa's bidding."

"Once again, Anubis is right," Kayura said as she returned her sword to its sheath. She walked over to the edge of the building that the Warlords were still standing on, and peered down at the city. "They're out there somewhere. It's only a matter of time before we find them."

"What are we to do while we wait," Dais asked.

Kayura turned towards Dais and sighed. "I can summon more soldiers. The more that are out there searching, the faster we can get what we came for." Once again, the energy in Kayura's hands emitted the familiar black light, and a portal was formed.

Meanwhile, Serena and the other girls had long since returned to Rei's Temple. Each girl had called her parents and told them she would be spending the night at Rei's. Surprisingly, all of the parents believed their daughters. The girls were sitting in Rei's room, discussing that night's events.

"Do you think we can trust those boys," Rei asked skeptically. "I mean, come on! They call themselves the _Ronin Warriors_. I think we're making a big mistake by trusting them."

"I think what they said is true," Lita answered. "The story they told us was too wild to just be something they made up."

"And besides, they told us about their powers," Amy added. "If they were our new enemies, that would be too big a risk for them to take."

"I think that as long as they don't find out that we're the Sailor Scouts, everything should be fine," Serena said. "And as long as we're really careful, they won't ever find out."

"Well, I still don't know," Rei replied. "I guess only time will tell." 

"There's one thing that has bothered me since we fought those soldiers," Lita started. "Just what happened to them after they were destroyed?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but do you remember what the Ronins told us," Mina began slowly. "They said that the soldiers weren't even people. They were evil spirits of the Dynasty."

"That sounds logical enough," Amy stated. "If you think about it, these soldiers are very similar to the Negaverse monsters we fought. The only difference is that they turn into smoke instead of dust when they're defeated."

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about hurting anyone," Serena said. The room grew silent, and each of the girls sat deep in thought. After some time, Luna broke the silence.

"You girls have a very busy day ahead of you. I think you should get as much rest as possible," she said.

"Luna has a point," Artemis added. "You'll have to keep an eye out for those so-called Warlords. And don't forget that after school, you'll have to meet up with those boys."

The girls nodded their agreement. "Yeah, that's a good idea," Serena replied. "But I have a question about what happened earlier. What was that new power we used?"

Luna and Artemis looked at each other nervously. "I knew you girls would be wondering about that," Luna began. "It was a healing power that can only be used when the five of you, Artemis, and I are present."

"So why couldn't Serena just use her own healing powers," Mina asked.

"It wouldn't have been enough to save that tiger's life," Artemis explained. "He was too close to death. The Sailor Scout Healing Power was strong enough to save him. Also, in some very rare cases, it can revive the deceased, but only minutes after his or her death. All in all, it's a very dangerous power to deal with."

"But don't worry about that," Luna said quickly. "Right now, you girls need rest."

"There is one more thing," Mina said as the girls got into the extra cots Rei had at the temple. "Was it just me, or did anyone else notice how cute those guys were?"

"Are you kidding? I was practically drooling," Serena exclaimed.

"Kento reminds me of my old boyfriend. He seems like a guy with a healthy appetite," Lita said. "And cooking is right up my alley!"

"Sai reminds me of my Darien," Serena said with a sad tone in her voice. She smiled, and then added, "Silent, but strong!"

"Sage should be a model," Mina said in a distant voice. "He has such handsome features, and the perfect body for it."

"I could listen to Rowen's voice all day," Amy said as she blushed.

"And Ryo's eyes had me practically hypnotized," Rei said. "They're such a beautiful blue!"

"Well now you girls have something to look forward to tomorrow," Luna said sarcastically.

"Yeah, you better get your beauty sleep," Artemis added. This seemed to get their attention because they grew silent almost immediately.

"Wow, great line, Artemis," Luna whispered.

"Thanks," he replied quietly, snuggling next to Luna. "I just can't believe that it worked!"

At the same time the girls were falling asleep, Ryo sat deep in thought as he stroked White Blaze. He still couldn't believe what had happened earlier that night. The Sailor Scouts had suggested that he and the other Ronins stay out of sight until they could figure out a plan. So they had decided to stay in one of the abandoned warehouses for the night.

"Ryo, what's up," Sage asked as he sat down. He noticed Ryo jump. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"Hmm? Oh that's ok. I didn't know anyone else was awake," Ryo replied. "I thought everyone was sleep, except for me and White Blaze."

"Well, I couldn't sleep," Sage said with a shrug.

"An abandoned warehouse isn't exactly the best accommodation," Ryo said with a chuckle. "Then again, who'd have thought we'd end up in a place like this?"

"Is that what's bothering you," Sage asked.

Ryo nodded his head slowly. "That, and I just don't understand why the Warlords would bring us here."

"My guess would be so that they would have an advantage over us," Rowen said, joining in the conversation.

"Rowen has a point," Sage added. "I got the impression that the Ancient wouldn't be able to help us here."

"And what about those girls," Sai asked as he joined the others. "Can we trust them?"

"Looks like everyone's awake, except for Kento," Ryo said. "I think he could sleep through anything."

"Yeah, that's for sure," Rowen added. "Well, what do you think about the Sailor Scouts," he said after a couple of minutes.

"Their names are appropriate enough," Sai commented. "They're typical females. Did you notice how their costumes matched their name perfectly?"

"Yeah, that's true. Sailor Scouts, sailor uniforms… I also noticed that if their skirts were any shorter, Kento's eyes would have popped out of his head," Sage laughed.

"I heard that," Kento grumbled as he joined the others in their laughter. Although there wasn't much light, they could all see that he was blushing. "It's not my fault. I'm just a very observant person!"

Ryo looked down at White Blaze, who had nudged his hand. "Well, I think we can trust them," he said. "After all, they did save White Blaze's life. Besides, we'll need someone who knows the city to help us out."

"Do you think we'll be able to trust the guides the Scouts said they would send," Sai asked.

"We don't have any other choice," Sage replied.

"So we'll just have to sit around here while the Warlords run loose," Kento asked incredulously.

"You don't remember what they said, do you Kento," Ryo asked.

"Nope, I guess not," he replied with an apologetic smile.

"They said they would provide us with guides who would help us out," Rowen began.

"And the guides would provide us with food and shelter," Sai added.

"Oh, I remember now," Kento exclaimed. "They also mentioned the guides would be our contact with the Scouts."

"Exactly," the others said in unison.

Kento scratched the back of his head. "Well, thanks for reminding me," he said. "I just couldn't really pay attention after those cats began to talk. That's one of the weirdest things I have ever seen in my life."

"I know what you mean," Sai replied. "Who'd have ever thought there was such a thing as a talking cat?"

"According to the one that called herself Sailor Moon, those cats are from the Moon Kingdom," Sage recalled. "And each of the Scouts represented the planet in their name."

"Now that's a wild story," Ryo said. "But we can't really be too judgmental. After all, our background isn't exactly what I'd call normal. We have to be able to assure the Sailor Scouts that we're on their side."

"Well, there isn't really much we can do until tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll find out everything we need to know then," Rowen began. "The best thing we can do for now is get some sleep."

The following day went at a very uneventful pace. Before long, the girls were out of school. They met at their after-school hangout in order to plan out the rest of the day.

"Ok, the first thing I think you should do is go home," Lita began. "We should make sure that your families know you're still alive."

"That's a great idea, Lita," Serena exclaimed. "I really want to get out of this uniform. And since today is Friday, I just know my mom will have some of her oh-so-delicious chocolate chip cookies!"

"Please, Serena," Rei began dryly. "I seriously doubt you'll change. Your mind will be too occupied on getting those cookies before Sammy does!"

"So sue me, Rei," Serena yelled.

"Come on you two. If we're going to meet those guys today, the two of you really need to get along," Mina interrupted. "They unknowingly saw you fighting last night, and if they see you fighting today, it won't take long for them to add two to make four!"

Amy sweatdropped. "That's put two and two together, Mina."

"That's what I said," Mina exclaimed, blushing slightly.

"Then it's settled," Serena said, giggling as she stood up. "We'll go home, and then meet them at the old warehouses. It's 3:30 right now, so we'll meet them in an hour."

One hour later, all the girls, except for Serena, stood waiting in front of the abandoned warehouses. The Ronin Warriors were nowhere to be found, and they were beginning to worry.

"Oh, I knew Serena would be late," Rei said angrily. "She is so undependable! I bet more than anything it's her fault we can't find the Ronins."

"Now Rei, that's not fair of you to say," Lita said, jumping to the defense of her absent friend. "Maybe she just got the times mixed up. Or maybe we were supposed to meet them in a different place."

"Or maybe she's just a Meatball Head," Rei exclaimed. "Besides, it was _her_ idea to meet here at 4:30!"

"Granted, Serena is a bit absent minded, but not even she could make this big of a mistake," Amy said.

"Yeah, Rei," Mina added. "There's gotta be some sort of mix-up."

"I'm afraid the confusion is due to our part, ladies," a voice said from behind the four girls. They spun around, and there stood the Ronin Warriors. "We had to be cautious of who we came into contact with," Sage continued.

"See, Rei," Lita began. "We found them."

"Well, just to be certain, just who are you girls," Ryo asked.

"You have the right to be suspicious," Mina began. "We're the guides the Sailor Scouts sent. I'm Mina. And this is Rei, Amy, and Lita," she continued, pointing to each girl respectively.

"Weren't there supposed to be five of you," Sai asked suspiciously.

The girls looked at each other. "Well, yes," Amy answered. "Serena is just a little late. It happens sometimes."

"Sometimes," Rei asked, raising an eyebrow. "Try all the time. It's just something you get used to with her."

"Not now, Rei," Lita said through clenched teeth. She turned her attention back to the Ronin Warriors. "I'm sure that Serena will be here any minute."

As if right on cue, Serena came running towards the group. "Sorry I'm late you guys," she said breathlessly, bending at the waist to catch her breath. "Today is not my lucky day. First, my parents asked me a bazillion questions as soon as I walked in the door. _Where were you last night, Serena_ and, _Did you know it was a school night, Serena_. I swear! They act like I didn't call them last night!"

"Serena," Lita said.

"And then," Serena continued, "as soon as they were done grilling me, I go up to my room, and what do I find?"

"Serena, not right . . ." Lita began.

"I find out that Sammy, that little brat, trashed my room," she interrupted. "And to make matters worse . . ."

"SERENA," Lita yelled. Serena stopped talking and looked at Lita in confusion. Lita nodded towards the Ronins, who all stood in shocked amusement.

"Um, I guess the rest of my little story can wait until later," she said in embarrassment. "Hi, I'm Serena!"

"Hi. I'm Ryo. This is Sage, Kento, Sai, and Rowen," he said as he motioned to each Ronin. "It's good to finally meet you all."

__

To Be Continued . . .


	4. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 4

AAE04 ****

I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story. All other disclaimers apply. Enjoy!

An Ancient Evil

Chapter 4

"We don't know the exact reason why the Warlords brought us here," Ryo said. "However, we do have our suspicions."

"For now, I guess our fate rests in the hands of you girls," Sage added with a slight smile.

Serena and the girls listened to the Ronin Warriors as they relayed the same story they told the Sailor Scouts the previous night. It would seem that the Ronins still did not realize that the girls standing in front of them were also the Scouts, and it appeared that Serena's plan to keep their true identities hidden was working.

_"Good,"_ Serena thought with a slight smile. _"Our magic is preventing them from realizing we're the Sailor Scouts."_

"What are we supposed to do until the next time we meet the Sailor Scouts," Kento wondered out loud, breaking through Serena's thoughts. The other Ronins shrugged in response.

"Well," Mina began slowly, "I suppose you get to hang out with us! Excuse us for a minute, please, and we'll figure something out." She motioned for the other girls to follow her off to the side so they could talk without the Ronins overhearing them. "What are we going to do," she whispered.

"I guess we could take them somewhere to eat," Lita suggested. "I bet they're hungry. We didn't exactly leave them any food last night."

"That solves that problem, but where are they going to stay," Amy asked. "We can't rent out any hotel rooms, because we don't have the kind of money for that!"

"Well," Serena said slowly as she began to blush, "each one of them could stay with one of us. We all have an extra room in our houses. It seems like the only thing we _can_ do . . ." As she looked at each of the girls, their faces showed the same embarrassment she felt.

"Serena, that's just as half thought out as any of your other plans," Rei exclaimed.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with any ideas," Serena shot back, raising her voice a little. "I am so sick of the way you . . . Rei, what's the matter," she asked with concern.

"L-look b-behind you," she stammered barely above a whisper. "H-he's going to b-bite you!"

"What? I don't understand what you're saying," Serena replied, even more confused than before. "Are you going to tell me what . . ." Before Serena could finish her sentence, something cold and wet touched her hand, and she let out a blood-curdling scream. She jumped forward a bit and spun around on her heels. To her relief, White Blaze was sitting down near where she had been standing. She inched warily towards the tiger, and then kneeled down in front of him. "You scared me, kitty," she cooed, scratching him between his ears.

"Be careful," Ryo exclaimed when Serena began to pet the tiger. "White Blaze doesn't like… strangers." He looked on in amazement when White Blaze began to purr as Serena petted him.

"Seems like they're getting along fine to me," Rowen commented.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but have you girls come up with a plan yet," Kento asked. "I, for one, am starving, and could really use some food right about now!"

Serena's head snapped up at the mention of food. She gave White Blaze one final pat on the head and then stood up. "Yep, we've got a plan. We'll treat you guys to something to eat. We should probably leave White Blaze here for the time being. A tiger running around on the loose isn't exactly the norm around here," she added with a giggle.

"That sounds like a plan, then," Ryo replied. He turned to White Blaze. "Sorry boy! It looks like you'll be here by yourself for a while."

"Which brings another question," Sai added. "Where will we be staying? There's no telling how long we'll be here, and that warehouse . . ."

"Oh, well we've got that figured out, too," Serena said as Sai allowed his voice to trail. "You guys . . . Well, what I mean is . . . uh . . . How can I put this?"

"What Serena is trying to say," Lita began, "is that each one of you will be staying at each of our homes."

"The five of us combined don't have enough money to put up for rooms, and as of right now, your stay is indefinite," Amy explained. "So this is the best way we can handle the situation."

"It will be like an exchange student program," Mina added. "The only difference is that you're, well, guys!"

"And what will your families say," Rowen asked. "I'm sure they'd ask questions about your bringing a strange guy home."

"I didn't think about that," Serena replied. Serena noticed as Rei gave her an _I told you so_ look, and glared at her friend. Suddenly, Serena's face lit up, and she smiled. "I've got it! What Mina said made sense. All we have to do is tell our parents that you are exchange students, and that they signed the papers months ago. Their memories are sure to fail them," she added as she winked at her friends.

A look of understanding crossed all the faces of the girls. "That's perfect," Rei exclaimed. "Our lives have been so hectic over the past few months. Grandpa won't even notice a visitor."

"My mom is a doctor, so she's always on call," Amy said.

"I live by myself," Lita said quietly. A shadow crossed over her face, but she smiled slightly. "I'd love to have some company."

"At my house, we all have busy schedules," Mina commented.

"And my mom always welcomes a new visitor to the house! So it's settled, then," Serena concluded. "That is unless you guys have objections?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Sage said with a shrug. "I doubt we would be able to come up with another suggestion."

"Great," Kento exclaimed. "So let's go eat!"

"Not so fast, Kento," Ryo said. "What about White Blaze? Where will he stay?"

"Well, we can talk about that at the restaurant," Rei replied. "Between Serena and Kento, we'll have a real problem on our hands if we don't get something to eat soon." Everyone burst out laughing except for the two that were unfortunate enough to be the butt of Rei's joke.

"Hey," Serena and Kento exclaimed at the same time. They looked at each other, and began laughing along with everyone else.

Meanwhile, six Dynasty soldiers were perched on the roof of one of the abandoned warehouses watching the ten people below them. They were far away enough not to be noticed, but close enough to know that five of the ten were the Ronin Warriors. The soldiers sat poised, ready to battle at the command of their leader.

"We must alert Lady Kayura to their whereabouts," the Commander said. "I will tell her of our findings. The five of you will follow the Ronins. However, you are not to attack them until we have word from Kayura." With that, the Commander bounded off westward.

The soldiers watched the figures below them patiently. When the group left the warehouse grounds, the soldiers followed noiselessly. Several minutes later, the soldiers stopped as the group disappeared into a building. When it became apparent that they would not be coming out any time soon, the soldiers laid in wait on an adjacent building. At the same time the five soldiers were settling down, their commander returned to them with Lady Kayura in tow. The soldiers stood in attention.

"What have you to report," the Commander demanded.

"The Ronins and five others went into that building," one soldier answered. "We did as you said, and followed them here."

"Very good," the Commander replied. "Lady Kayura, what is your bidding?"

"You will fight them, of course," she answered. "However, the unknown variables interest me. Who were the others, with the Ronins?"

"I saw the same ones you speak of, Lady Kayura," the Commander replied. "They appeared to be females. They did not look like warriors, but I could be mistaken."

"And you most likely are. The Ronins are smart enemies. They wouldn't align themselves with anyone whom would not be of help to them," Kayura said.

"We just await your command," the Commander said.

"Now is not the time," Kayura replied with a sneer. "Let them have their fun, and strike when they would least expect it." She opened up a portal, and fifteen soldiers stepped out. "Under your lead, twenty of you should be enough to serve as a warning to them. I expect at least one of you to survive and report back to me. The Warlords and I will take care of the rest." She turned and jumped off of the building, and disappeared into the approaching sunset.

As Serena was finishing up her light snack, she looked around the table at everyone. _"It really is amazing,"_ she thought to herself. _"Who'd have thought we would ever have such powerful allies on our side, and cute ones at that!"_

The Ronins had discussed a little more about themselves and their powers while everyone was eating. Naturally, the Ronins were also curious as to how the five girls had come into contact with the Scouts. Serena smiled to herself as she remembered what she told them; of how she said that the Scouts had found them. In a way, it was the truth. Their powers had found them when they remembered the lives they led a millenium ago. As she was scanning the table, her eyes locked with Ryo's, and she turned her head before he could see her blush.

_ "He looks so much like my Darien,"_ she thought sadly. She stole a glance at him, and was relieved that he had turned his attention to something Lita was saying.

"You've been awfully quiet, Serena," Mina observed. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she replied with a smile. "But I do think I've come up with how to solve the housing situation." Everyone grew quiet and looked at her intently. She took a deep breath. "Ryo, you and White Blaze will stay at Rei's. The Temple is huge, and it will be easy to hide him there. As for the rest of you, Sage will stay with Lita, Sai will stay with Amy, Rowen will stay with Mina, and Kento you'll be staying with me. If that's ok, I think we should be leaving soon."

"Well, well, well, Meatball Head. Aren't we the authoritative one today," a voice asked from above. Serena stiffened at the sound of the voice. She knew who it was without having to look up.

"Darien! I really wish you wouldn't call me that," Serena exclaimed. _"Oh no! I wonder how much he heard,"_ she thought frantically. She looked up at him angrily, but her features softened when she made eye contact him. "How have you been feeling lately?"

"Great, actually. I have had better days," he replied. "But listen, I don't want to break up your date here. I didn't mean to . . ."

"Oh, it's nothing like that," Serena interrupted, standing up quickly. She looked deep into his eyes, and prayed that he saw she was telling the truth. If she was to get things back to the way they were, the last thing she wanted was for him to think she had a boyfriend.

"Whatever," he said nonchalantly. He looked over the boys. "Sorry, didn't mean to be rude. I'm Darien." He shook hands with each of the Ronins as they introduced themselves. "Well, I'll let you get back to your evening," he said. "See you around. Bye Meat . . . uh, Serena." As he turned to leave, Serena opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it. She slumped back down into the booth feeling defeated.

Meanwhile, the Ronins sat looking awkward, while the girls felt sorry for Serena. They knew what she must have been feeling because they had watched their friend go through love and heartbreak in almost the same night when they had their final fight with Queen Beryl. They knew the fact that Darien didn't remember anything from that final battle was tearing Serena apart. Lita began to say something, but Serena motioned for her to be quiet.

"You don't have to say anything," she said quietly. She looked up at the Ronins and smiled apologetically. "That was our friend, Darien. He had an accident a couple of months ago, and has been a little . . . out of it ever since," Serena explained. "He has a slight case of amnesia."

"He remembers us, and a lot of other things," Mina continued as she looked at Serena, "but he has forgotten some of the most important details of his life. It will pass, and he'll eventually remember it all."

Serena smiled at Mina, and blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. "Well, it's been a long day. How about we go home," Serena suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement.

After their meals had been paid for the group was standing outside of the restaurant. The Ronins paired off with their respective hosts, and everyone said their good-byes. Serena, Kento, Mina, and Rowen headed north, Amy and Sai headed south, and Rei and Ryo headed back westward to retrieve White Blaze before they went to the Temple. All the while, the horde of Dynasty soldiers watched them, undetected, from above.

"It appears the Ronins are finally on the move," the Commander said. He turned to the twenty Dynasty soldiers. "Ok, soldiers. Divide into five groups of four, and follow each Ronin and female. Strike at the most opportune time. I shall go with the group following the Ronin leader. Move out!" The soldiers did as commanded and followed the teenagers into the night.

__

To Be Continued . . .


	5. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 5

AAE05 ****

I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story. All other disclaimers apply. Enjoy!

AN - A little of my information may be wrong, and I'll most likely make it up as I go! So if you think it's inaccurate, it probably is. _*wink*_ Well, on to the story.

****

An Ancient Evil

Chapter 5

In the Ronin Warriors dimension, Mia, Yuli, and the Ancient were at Mia's house. The old monk sat on the roof in vigilant meditation. However in the rec room, Mia sat at her computer while Yuli was playing with his skateboard, and making a lot of noise at that. Finally, Mia was not able to stand it any longer.

"Yuli," Mia began, "I can't concentrate with you making all that noise. Must you do it in the house?" She looked at the tiny boy and smiled. "But I could use a break. How about some lunch."

"Sure," he exclaimed enthusiastically. He ran towards the kitchen, and Mia shook her head in amusement. "Hurry up Mia," he yelled. She got up and followed to where the boy disappeared.

She walked over to the pantry and opened it. Then she turned towards Yuli and took a deep bow. "Today, sir, you have the choice of noodles with soup, or rice with beef."

Yuli giggled. "Can't I just have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"

"Sure thing," Mia replied. She took out everything she needed, and then walked over to the table Yuli was sitting at. He watched her with a smile on his face. However, a frown quickly replaced it.

"Mia, I'm worried about the guys," he said in a quiet voice. "When will they be back? What if they don't get back, or if they get hurt and the Dynasty gets them?"

"Don't worry, Yuli," Mia assured him. "They'll be fine. Ryo promised that they would be careful, so I'm sure that's what they're doing. As a matter of fact, I bet you they've already found an ally to help them out."

"Do you mean like me and you," he asked.

"That's right. An ally, just like me and you," she replied.

~ _Back in the Scout's world_ ~

Serena and Kento, and Mina and Rowen stood talking on a path, which went through a park. The path forked into two directions that each girl took to get home. Above the four, eight Dynasty soldiers crouched in the trees. Their green armor blended in with the leaves, so they went unnoticed.

"Well Mina, Rowen, I guess we'll see you tomorrow," Serena said to her friends. "I just hope that we . . ."

"Wait a sec," Rowen interrupted. "Listen. It's too quiet."

"He's right," Mina replied after listening. "There are no sounds at all. The crickets aren't chirping, and even the roosting birds are too quiet."

Suddenly, the Dynasty soldiers jumped down from the tree. They would have landed on top of the four teenagers, however Rowen and Kento heard the noise above them. They grabbed the girls and jumped out of the way. The soldiers landed on the ground with a thud, their weapons in hand.

"I knew you creeps wouldn't leave us alone for too long," Rowen said.

"Oh yeah! It's time to rumble," Kento exclaimed. "Justice."

"Life force," Rowen shouted at the same time. As Serena and Mina looked on, a ball of orange light appeared in Kento's hand while a dark blue light appeared in Rowen's hand. The lights spread over their bodies, and when the glowing stopped they were wearing their sub-armor.

"You girls get somewhere safe," Rowen ordered. "We'll take care of them." Serena and Mina nodded their heads, and then ducked behind some trees.

"I guess they were telling the truth," Mina whispered. "But they might get hurt. The soldiers are using weapons."

"Uh huh," Serena replied. "We'll have to be ready to transform just in case they need our help."

They watched in silence as the two Ronin Warriors fought the soldiers. At first, Rowen and Kento worked together, and four of the eight soldiers were destroyed within minutes. The remaining soldiers were able to separate the boys from each other, and then it was two against one.

"Be careful, Kento," Rowen warned. He ducked as a soldier swung his sword at him. Rowen then jumped up, and kicked the soldier in his head, destroying him. He picked up the sword, and then ran the other soldier through.

"That's amazing," Mina exclaimed.

"Sure is," Serena replied. She turned her attention towards Kento. "Oh no! Kento, watch out!" Her warning distracted him, and one of the soldiers landed their hit. He fell to the ground, and grabbed his chest. Serena gasped. "That's it!" She grabbed her locket, however Mina stopped her.

"Don't, Serena," she said. "He's got Rowen to help him. We don't want to blow our cover just yet."

Kento growled, and then rushed at the soldier that had hit him. He tackled the soldier into a tree and destroyed him. Kento punched the other soldier in the face. He smiled as the now lifeless armor dropped to the ground. Rowen joined Kento at his side, and they looked at their handy-work. "Well, that was easy," Kento said.

"Yeah, too easy. They must have just been a warning," Rowen replied. "It's safe to come out now, girls." They ran out from their hiding place towards the Ronins. As they reached them, Kento and Rowen's armor began to glow again, and the armor disappeared.

"Thanks for protecting us you guys," Mina said.

"Yeah, we owe you one," Serena added.

Meanwhile, Sai was fighting his own battle. The four soldiers that were following him had made a surprise attack, and he didn't have time to call for his armor. Finally, after being knocked around, he was able to destroy one of the soldiers. He jumped up into the air. "Trust," he yelled. A light blue light appeared in his hand, and the glowing spread over his body. When he landed back on the ground, Sai was wearing his sub-armor. Two of the three soldiers advanced at him. One soldier stood on either side of him, and each had a spear in his hand. They attacked at the same time, however Sai jumped up into the air, and the two soldiers impaled each other on their weapons. He flipped in the air a couple of times, and landed in front of Amy.

Amy looked around the deserted streets and was glad that no one was out that night. Several of the lights in the lampposts had been broken in Sai's battle. However a few were still functioning, including the one they were standing under. "Are you alright," she asked.

"Yes," he replied. "However, there should be one more soldier around here. There were four of them." He scanned the area, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the glint of a weapon. Gasping in surprise, Sai brought his arm up just as a shower of arrows flew in his direction. He was able to block most of them, however a few hit his arm, and struck his side. Sai dropped to his knees in pain.

"Sai," Amy yelled. She jumped back in horror as the last remaining soldier emerged from the dark. He stood over Sai with a spear in his hand. It was obvious that the soldier had picked the weapon up from one of other fallen soldiers. _"He's going to kill Sai,"_ she thought frantically. She rummaged through her little handbag, until she found what she was looking for, and prayed that her plan would work.

As the soldier raised the spear to strike Sai down, Amy swung her bag at the soldier, bringing his attention away from Sai. When he looked at her, Amy sprayed pepper spray into his eyes. He brought his hands up to his face, and dropped the weapon. "Sai, the spear," she exclaimed. Sai understood her plan, and picked up the spear. He thrust it through the torso of the soldier, and watched as smoke escaped. Exhausted, Sai sat down on the ground as his armor began to disappear.

"Thanks Amy," he said. "You saved my life."

She knelt down next to Sai. Wrapping her arm around his waist, she helped him stand up. "No, thank you. I better get you home and address your wounds. Here, let me help you support your weight."

Sai put his arm around her shoulder, however he tried to support as much of his weight as he could. "It shouldn't be too bad. My armor took the brunt of the attack, and only a few of the arrows actually hit me. It's nothing a good night's sleep couldn't cure."

"Well, we'll see," she replied with a smile. The two began to walk once again, making their way slowly towards Amy's home.

"That was fun," Lita said to Sage as she looked at the soldiers that littered the ground around them. She glanced over at Sage and smiled.

"Well, thanks for your help," he replied. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"I don't know. I've always just been able to fight. It comes in handy," she answered with a shrug. "So, that's part of your armor, huh," she asked as Sage's sub-armor began to glow green and disappeared.

"Yeah. All of us have an attribute that taps into some of our armor's powers," he replied. "Mine is wisdom. When we have to fight off Dynasty soldiers, we usually only have to fight in the form that you saw. It makes us a little stronger, and we can withstand the attacks a little better. We only use our full power when fighting the Warlords."

"Well, do they always send such a low amount to fight the five of you," she asked. "That was a little easy."

"There usually are a lot more to fight than just three," Sage agreed. "Maybe it was just a warning."

Lita thought that she saw movement, and glanced over Sage's shoulder. Standing behind Sage, the last remaining Dynasty soldier had his weapon raised. Lita saw him and gasped. "Sage, duck," she yelled. Sage dropped to the ground just as the soldier swing his weapon. Taking the opportunity as the soldier missed his target, Lita grabbed the soldier's arm, flipped him over her shoulder, and slammed him into the ground. Sage stood slowly with a shocked look on his face.

"Uh, thanks," he said.

"No problem. Maybe we should go now," she suggested. Sage nodded in agreement and the two continued on their way.

"Um, Lita," Sage began, "I hope I'm not prying, but why do you live by yourself?" He noticed as a look of sorrow crossed Lita's features. "I'm sorry, I hope I didn't overstep my boundaries."

"No, it's ok," she replied slowly. "My parents died in a plane crash. That's why I live by myself."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sage said.

"Don't be," she reassured him. "I've been living alone for a while. The pain is still there, but I've learned to live with it. I don't let it run my life."

"You're such a strong person, Lita, both inside and out," Sage replied. "That's a very respectable trait to have." She smiled at him, and the two continued to make their way towards Lita's apartment.

"So Rei, tell me something," Ryo said as the two were walking along, "what's the real story behind you girls and Darien? There seemed to be something a little more . . . deep between him and Serena." He stopped when he noticed that Rei had stopped walking. He noticed a flash of what looked like anger cross Rei's face. "I'm sorry," he began, "I shouldn't be so nosy."

"It's not that," she replied. "I just realized that Serena will probably be moping all day tomorrow. It's not really my place to say anything, but before Darien's . . . memory loss, he and Serena were just beginning a relationship. They were really meant for each other. Now that Darien has amnesia, he doesn't really remember anything about the relationship."

_"They were in a relationship together! He's so much older than her,"_ Ryo thought to himself. _"But that's none of my business…"_ He shook his head, looking towards Rei. "Oh, I see," he said out loud. "That's so sad. Poor Serena, she must really be going through a rough time."

Rei shrugged her shoulders. "Serena is a survivor. She's a little flaky at times, but she's one of the strongest people I know." She paused before continuing. "And she's so brave. Serena would do anything for the people she loves and cares about." Rei was having a flashback of their final fight with Queen Beryl, and she had let the last part slip out. As tears began to blur her vision, she swallowed down the lump that formed in her throat.

"Rei," Ryo asked cautiously.

"Uh, what I mean is that she's a tough person," she said as she was jolted out of her thoughts. Rei looked at Ryo and blushed at her slip-up. She began to walk again, and Ryo followed. They were close to the warehouse, because they could hear the water gently crashing against the pier. As they passed the docks Rei stopped abruptly, and Ryo bumped into her.

"Rei, what's wrong," he asked with concern.

"Something's not right," she said. Her brow wrinkled into a frown. "There's a dark presence somewhere close by. Something evil." As she finished her sentence, several figures jumped out of the water and landed in front of the duo. Ryo pulled Rei behind him protectively as he realized that they were Dynasty soldiers.

"We have been following you for quite some time, Ryo of the Wildfire," the Commander said. Two soldiers stood at the left and right of him.

"Well, this is disappointing," Ryo said sarcastically. "The Warlords are sending out lowly soldiers to do their dirty work, eh?" An oval shaped object appeared in his hand. "Virtue!" The object began to emit a red glow. The light spread over Ryo's body as it formed his sub-armor.

"Prepare for the final battle of your life, Wildfire," the Commander growled. He motioned for the soldiers to attack. Three of the soldiers attacked Ryo, while the last one attacked Rei. With a series of kicks and punches, Ryo had destroyed the three soldiers. He turned his attention towards Rei, who was easily dodging the attacks of the soldier. The soldier swung his weapon at her, however Rei side stepped away from the attack and threw a thin piece of paper at his forehead. As it stuck in place, the soldier froze as if he were paralyzed. Rei sneered at him, and began to speak an incantation.

"Be gone," she exclaimed, and as she finished, smoke escaped from the soldier, and the armor fell to the ground lifeless. Rei smiled at Ryo, and he returned the gesture. They looked to where the Commander had been standing, and he was gone.

"Well, that figures," Ryo muttered. "You did great back there, Rei."

"Thanks," she replied. "It comes in handy to be a priestess at my Grandfather's temple. I wonder where that other soldier went off to?"

"He probably went off to report to the Warlords," Ryo answered. "Which reminds me, we really need to get in contact with the Sailor Scouts. They said something about showing us likely places the Warlords would hide out. But first things first. We need to get to your place." Ryo put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Within minutes, White Blaze could be seen bounding towards the duo. As the tiger stopped in front of them, Ryo hopped onto White Blaze's back, and stretched out a hand towards Rei. "Come on. We can get to your temple faster if we ride on White Blaze's back." 

Rei looked at him skeptically. "But . . ."

"Don't worry about it. White Blaze won't hurt you, and he can easily support both of our weights," Ryo interrupted. Rei cautiously got onto the tiger, and as soon as she was in place, he took off running full speed. She gasped, and grabbed a hold of Ryo's waist. After a few minutes, she began to relax.

"Oh wow! This is great," she exclaimed with a laugh. As the three ran along, Rei loosened up, and leaned forward, resting her cheek against Ryo's back.

"Is everything alright back there," he asked in surprise.

"Everything's fine," Rei yelled back, beginning to enjoy her once in a lifetime opportunity. "This is amazing! How often does one get to ride on a tiger's back?" Ryo chuckled, and the three continued on their way to the shrine.

__

To Be Continued . . .


	6. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 6

AAE06 ****

I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story. All other disclaimers apply. Enjoy!

An Ancient Evil

Chapter 6

"Serena? Serena, get up," Luna said to the sleeping blonde as she pounced on her stomach.

"Luna, go away! It's Saturday today, and I don't need to get up," Serena replied sleepily. "Just let me sleep . . ."

"Absolutely not," the black cat exclaimed. She grabbed Serena's blanket in her mouth, and pulled it back as best she could. "You need to go and meet everyone at the . . ."

"Oh my God, I need to get up and meet everyone at the mall," Serena interrupted. She jumped out of bed, throwing her covers off of her. Unfortunately for Luna, she was also thrown off the bed. "Oh sorry Luna!"

"That's ok," she grumbled. "Just grab your stuff and get into the bathroom. And make it quick! You've only got half an hour to get there."

"Sure thing, Luna," she replied quickly. After getting her stuff, Serena ran into the bathroom and jumped into the shower, and, in record time, she was finished. _"Wow, that didn't take very long at all,"_ she thought, surprised. Then, realization dawned on her. "Figures," she mumbled, as she wrapped a towel around herself, and ran back to her room to grab her razor and shaving cream.

"Serena, you'd better hurry up," Luna said as the girl reentered the room. "You'll only be a little late, so make it fast."

"Ok, Luna, I'll be back," she replied. Once she got back into the bathroom, Serena quickly began to shave her legs. "Why, today of all days, do I have to be running late," she wondered out loud. She jumped when there was a knock on the door, cutting herself in the process. _"Great! Oh, that Sammy gets on my nerves,"_ she thought to herself. She made sure her towel was wrapped tightly around her, and then opened the door and said, "Sammy, how many times do I have to tell you to use the other bathroom? You made me . . ." She let her voice trail off when she realized who was standing on the other side of the door.

"Sorry, Serena," Kento said, turning a bright shade of red and adverting his gaze. "I, uh, I didn't know you were still in here."

"It's my fault. I should have made sure I had everything," Serena said, embarrassed. "I'll be done in a few minutes, and then you can have the bathroom." She closed the door behind her, sighed in relief when she heard Kento go back into his room. She finished shaving and then put on her robe. Peeking out the door to make sure the coast was clear, she ran back into her room, and closed the door.

"Serena, what's the matter," Luna asked. "You look all flushed."

"Oh, I only experienced the most embarrassing moment in my life," she replied. "I'm not used to having a teenage boy in the house, Luna! I know Sammy's a boy, but it's just . . . different!" Luna chuckled, as she understood Serena's dilemma. "Don't laugh, Luna! It's not funny!"

Sai opened his eyes groggily when he heard a soft knock on the door. "Just a minute," he grumbled. He looked around the room and remembered that his clothes were still in the dryer from the previous night. He slapped his hand up to his forehead, and wrapped himself up in his blanket. Carefully, he opened the door, and saw Amy standing there. "Oh, hello, Amy," he greeted her.

"Good afternoon," she replied, as she looked down at her watch. "I'm really sorry to have disturbed your sleep, but it's getting late, and we still need to meet everyone down at the mall pretty soon." For the first time since she knocked on Sai's door, she noticed that he didn't have anything on except his blanket. Blushing, she looked away. 

"Sorry," he apologized, blushing as well. "My clothes are still downstairs in the dryer."

"I'll bring you your clothes. Uh, the bathroom is down the hall, and you can find everything you need in the closet. But be careful about your injuries," she began.

"Actually, I feel a lot better," he replied.

"That's great," she exclaimed. "When you're finished, come downstairs, and I'll take another look at them. Then I'll get you something to eat." They stood awkwardly for a couple of minutes. "Well, um, I'll go downstairs and get your clothes and bring them back up here." With that, she turned and walked towards the stairs.

"Thanks, Amy," he said. She turned slightly and nodded her head, and then was gone. "Boy, this is going to be different," he said to himself as he made his way to the bathroom.

"Where do you think they are," Rei asked. She, Ryo, Mina, Rowen, Lita, and Sage were waiting in front of the mall, as the group had planned. "I know Serena is always late, but Amy never is."

"Do you think they could have run into trouble last night," Lita asked.

"Well, me, Rowen, Serena, and Kento were all together when those Dynasty soldiers attacked us," Mina said. "You said the same thing happened to you, Lita, and you too, Rei. So I imagine Amy and Sai were also attacked."

"That makes sense," Sage agreed. "The Dynasty soldiers must have been keeping tabs on us all."

"Well, if they're not here soon, we'll go and find them," Ryo said.

"Worried about us," Kento asked. The group looked in the direction the voice had come from, and saw Serena and Kento standing there.

"Yeah, sorry we're late," Serena apologized. "We were up late last night snacking and talking, and slept in late." She blushed slightly as she remembered the whole bathroom scene. "But the important thing is that we're here now. Uh, where's Amy and Sai?"

"We don't know," Rei said. "We were waiting for the four of you to show up."

"What do you mean you don't know where she is," Serena asked. "Did you call her?"

"Before you got here, we were talking and found out that all of us were attacked by Dynasty soldiers last night," Lita began. "This could mean that Amy and Sai were also attacked."

"Yeah, that's right. We were," Sai said, as he and Amy walked up to them. "And I got banged up pretty good too. One of them almost got me, but thanks to Amy's quick thinking, I'm fine."

"It was nothing, really. You make it sound as if I'm a hero," Amy replied. "I'm sure you would have done the same for me." None of the Ronins seemed to notice as the girls exchanged nervous glances at Amy's proclamation.

"Well, the most important thing is that we're all here," Ryo said.

"Oh, most definitely," Serena quickly added. "So, let's go do some shopping."

"Yeah, we don't know how long your stay here will be, so the first thing you guys need are clothes," Lita said. "It will look suspicious if you only have one outfit to wear."

"You guys picked a great time to drop in from another dimension. With my fashion sense, all of our money, and not to mention the store-wide sales, we'll find you something," Mina commented.

"In other words, we'll be here for a while. So I hope you all have comfortable shoes on," Rei exclaimed. The guys exchanged horrified glances and stifled groans as they were dragged off into the store.

Several hours later the Ronins found themselves in the Crossroads High School courtyard. The girls told them that was the place the Scouts would meet them. So, once they dropped the Ronins off at the high school, and took the bags the boys were loaded down with, the girls were gone.

"Man, my feet are killing me," Kento complained.

"I know what you mean," Rowen replied. "I thought fighting the Dynasty was tough, but that pales in comparison to shopping."

"If I had to try on one more outfit," Sage began, "I swear that I would have . . ."

"Snapped," Sai suggested.

"Lost it," Ryo asked at the same time.

"Exactly," Sage replied. They all began to laugh. After a couple of minutes, their laughter subsided.

"It was nice of them, though," Rowen commented thoughtfully. "If you think about it, they're a lot like us. Except they had a choice to turn down the responsibility they hold. It was our destiny to become warriors, but they willingly decided to help the Scouts by keeping their secret safe."

"You've got a point, Rowen," Sai replied. "But we all willingly accepted our destinies."

"That's not true," Kento said. "I really wasn't all that interested in saving the world. Although I admit that fighting appealed to me, I just wanted to be a normal teenager. But after all the stuff we've been through, I've accepted my destiny. And I intend to see that the world is safe from the Dynasty once and for all."

As the boys continued talking, the Scouts stood above them, on top of the building. From the position they were in, the Scouts could hear everything the Ronins were saying.

"I feel bad for lying to them," Sailor Moon said. "No, not bad, horrible. They're so willing to accept that story we told them. They trust us completely."

"I feel the same way," Mars said, "but we've only known them a day and a half. Even if we do trust them enough to tell them the truth, Luna wouldn't be too happy."

Sailor Moon sighed in disappointment, but knew that Sailor Mars was right. "I know, and you're right," she said. "Well, let's go down there and talk." They jumped down off the roof, which wasn't very far off the ground and landed silently. As they drew closer to the boys, the Scouts noticed for the first time that the Ronins were wearing their sub-armor. "Greetings, Ronin Warriors," Sailor Moon said as they turned towards the sound of the Scout's footsteps.

"Sailor Moon, Sailor Scouts, thank you for coming," Ryo said.

"It's no problem," Sailor Moon replied.

"With the defeat of the Negaverse, we've . . . got some extra time on our hands," Jupiter said.

"You haven't had much time to think about this, but have you found any possible places that the Warlords could be hiding out," Sage asked.

"Actually, yes we have," Mercury answered, pulling out the Mercury-computer. "There have been several disturbances over the last couple of days. There were three different times two days ago."

"That's when we were brought here," Sai said.

"Yes. And then there were four different times yesterday that showed up on my computer," Mercury continued.

"That must have been when we were attacked by some Dynasty soldiers," Rowen replied. "It was a good thing the guides you sent weren't harmed."

"I think they would have been okay," Venus commented. "And they would have notified us if they were in any danger. Obviously, you guys are great protectors."

"Something's not right," Mars said suddenly, with a frown on her face. "Sailor Mercury, scan the city." The girl looked confused, but did as she was asked.

"You're right, Mars," Mercury gasped. "There's a disturbance, and it's very close. Too close for comfort." No sooner were the words out of her mouth, then did an arrow shoot out from nowhere, landing a direct hit on Mercury's computer. As it shattered into pieces, everyone looked up in surprise. The site in front of them made the Scouts gasp in shock. However, the Ronins were not surprised at all.

"Sekhmet and Dais," Kento growled. "So you finally decided to crawl out from the hole you were hiding in, huh? Where are the rest of the scumbags?"

"Are you so eager to die," Sekhmet asked. He thrust his weapon forward, and ten Dynasty soldiers rushed towards the Ronins and Scouts. The Ronins were easily able to destroy the soldiers, however the Scouts stood in shock.

_"How are we supposed to defeat them all,"_ Sailor Moon thought to herself, looking at the sea of Dynasty soldiers behind the two Warlords.

"Sailor Moon," Mars shouted, shaking the girl. "Snap out of it! We've got to help the Ronins."

"Mars, are you crazy," Sailor Moon exclaimed hysterically. "There's got to be thousands of soldiers, and two Warlords on top of that. We can't defeat all of them. We can't."

"Sailor Moon, calm down," Sage said in an even voice. "It's most likely an illusion made by Dais."

"Drop the illusion, Dais," Ryo shouted. "Or are you too scared to fight us?"

"Is it an illusion, Ryo of Wildfire," Dais challenged. "Or do your eyes see the truth? Fight, and we shall see." Dais ordered a dozen more soldiers to fight the Ronins.

"I wish I had my computer right about now," Mercury sighed. "Wait a minute!" She reached up to her ear and pressed her earring. Once she did this, a glass energy scanner slipped into place over her eyes. "Yes, it still works," she exclaimed.

"What works, Mercury," Jupiter asked.

"My energy scanner; the same one that I used when we were lost in Beryl's castle," Mercury replied. "Now if I could just focus the scanner on an energy source . . . There!" She pushed her earring once again, and the scanner disappeared.

"What did you find," Venus asked.

"The one Ryo called Dais is emitting some sort of energy wave. He must be causing holograms of some of these soldiers," Mercury answered.

"Then we better fix that," Mars said. She pulled out an ofuda and threw the thin paper at Dais.

"What's this," Dais demanded as he froze in place.

"You'll see soon enough," Mars retorted. "Mars Fireballs Charge!" The attack hit Dais and he fell to the ground. "Yes," Mars exclaimed as smoke rose from Dais' armor. Most of the soldiers disappeared as well, except for the ones the Ronins were battling.

"Don't celebrate so soon girl," Dais growled as he stood up. He sneered from behind his helmet at the look of shock on Mars' face. "The Dynasty will not be defeated so easily, especially by the likes of you." He pulled his extensor blade off his back. "My turn," he stated. "Web of Deception!"

"Mars, watch out," Sailor Moon screamed. She ran towards Mars, and as she pushed her out of the way, Dais' attack hit Sailor Moon. The Ronins had just finished destroying the remaining Dynasty soldiers when this happened.

"Sailor Moon," the Scouts said in unison. They rushed to her side to help their fallen leader. However, she was out cold.

"Leave them out of this, Dais," Ryo yelled.

"Be more concerned with yourself, Ronin," Sekhmet said. "Snake Fang Strike!" As the attack hit Ryo, he screamed in pain and Sekhmet laughed evilly. "What's the matter Wildfire? Can't you stand my attack?" The other Ronins ran towards Sekhmet, however Dais intercepted them.

"Four on two isn't fair," he stated. "Shall we even the odds?"

"Quake With Fear," Anubis yelled out as he jumped down from the school, towards the Ronins. For the second time, he caught them by surprise. Sage, Rowen, and Sai were caught in Anubis' chains, however Kento was able to escape.

"That's enough," Kento yelled. "Armor of Hard Rock, tao gi!" His body took on a white glow as his battle armor assembled on him piece by piece. When the glowing stopped, he was fully armored and ready to fight. Staff in hand, Kento looked at Sekhmet. "Let Ryo go! Iron Rock Crusher," he yelled as he hit his weapon on the ground, and sent his attack at the Warlord. Sekhmet jumped out of the way, barely avoiding the attack.

"Thanks Kento," Ryo said as he slowly got to his feet. "Armor of Wildfire, tao jin!" The Scouts watched as Ryo suited up into his battle armor, and pulled his swords from their sheath. Kento attacked Dais while Ryo fought against Sekhmet.

"I can't just watch this anymore. You guys stay here and protect Sailor Moon," Jupiter said as she looked down at the unconscious girl. She turned towards Anubis and walked over to him. "From what we've been told, you must be the Dark Warlord, Anubis," she said to him.

"And who are you," Anubis demanded. "You'd better run along home, girl, before you get yourself hurt."

"I am Sailor Jupiter," she replied. "And in the name of Jupiter, I demand that you release the Ronin Warriors now!"

Anubis chuckled smugly. "And if I don't," he challenged.

"Then I'll force you," she replied angrily. "Jupiter Thunder Crash!" She threw the electric attack and it hit Anubis in the chest. However, the three Ronin Warriors were the ones screaming in pain. "What? What happened," she asked, confused.

"Go on! Throw more of your attacks at me," Anubis taunted. He backhanded Jupiter and sent her flying towards the other Scouts. "Foolish girl! Your attacks have no affect on me, but they harm the Ronins ten fold!"

"We'll see about that," Mercury said. "Mercury Bubbles Freeze!"

"Mercury, no," Sai screamed as she sent her attack flying in Anubis' direction. The three Ronins watched in horror as the attack hit the chains. However instead of feeling pain, they felt themselves falling.

"Let's see if you feel this, Anubis," Jupiter yelled as the Ronins landed on the ground safely. "Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!" As the attack drew closer to Anubis, a figure jumped down in front of him and batted the attack away. Everyone stopped fighting as Jupiter's attack crashed into the school, and turned their attention towards Anubis.

"My, my Anubis. We certainly are getting clumsy," Lady Kayura said as she replaced her starlight sword in its sheath. "Pack it up boys. You've had enough fun for today."

"Are you crazy," Sekhmet asked angrily, releasing his hand from around Ryo's throat.

"Lady Kayura, we've got the Ronins where we want them," Dais agreed. "We can finish them and leave this pathetic existence. If you would be more _patient_, we can . . ."

"Silence," she interrupted. "Do as I say, and don't question me any further." Kayura looked towards the Ronins, who were standing next to the Scouts. "Sorry, but we'll have to play later," she said before she jumped up and out of sight. The other Warlords followed, except for Anubis.

"This is far from over, Ronins," he stated. "Your new allies won't be a deciding factor when the real fight begins." With that, he was gone.

Sailor Moon slowly opened her eyes and sat up. "Ugh, why do I feel as if I was hit by a truck," she grumbled. She looked around her surroundings and realized the destruction around her used to be her school. "Uh, guys, what happened?"

__

To Be Continued . . .

****

AN - Sorry I took so long to get this part out! I'm sure some of you might be wondering what the whole tao gi/tao jin thing is (when the Ronins are transforming into their battle armor). Well, it's just something they say when they call for their (battle) armor. Each of the Ronin Warriors has a different saying. And if I'm not mistaken, the Warlords do as well, but I won't be using those. Well, thanks for reading my fic! I hope you liked it. Please leave your comments!


	7. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 7

AAE07 **__**

*sigh* Do I really need to put this? You all know the drill! I don't own the rights to any of the characters. Enjoy!

An Ancient Evil

Chapter 7

An angry Sekhmet punched a hole in the side in the wall of the building that the Warlords called their temporary home. They had taken shelter in the abandoned gymnasium since the day they landed in Tokyo. He snatched his helmet off of his head and ran his hand through his short, green hair. Finally, he couldn't contain his anger any longer. "Kayura, what was the meaning of your interruption earlier," he demanded.

Kayura sighed and slowly turned towards Sekhmet. "Honestly, how many times must we go through this," she asked in a bored tone. "Lord Talpa put me in charge, and we'll do things my way."

"I don't give a damn about who's in charge, Kayura," Sekhmet snapped. "We missed a great opportunity tonight because of this power-trip you're on, and now we've got to hunt the Ronins down again." She rolled her eyes and turned on her heel to leave. However he grabbed her by the arm and turned her around to face him. "Damn it, don't you walk away from me."

Kayura yanked her arm from his grasp and raised an eyebrow. "But the hunt is part of the fun," she said mockingly. She smiled as Sekhmet balled his fists angrily. "I do believe that's what you said, isn't it?" She walked away from him as she laughed. Sekhmet was about to follow when Kale stopped him.

"Kayura, don't start," Kale said. "If you hadn't stopped them, we would be well on our way home."

"Silence, Kale. You weren't there, so you can't fully understand the situation," she replied angrily. "These new pawns in our game with the Ronins interest me. Who were those girls, and why have they aligned themselves with our enemy?"

"They are obviously powerful, whoever they are," Anubis replied. "Perhaps they are guardians of this world."

"Maybe they're the same girls the soldiers reported back to us about a few nights ago," Kale suggested. Kayura looked at him skeptically, and Kale glared back at her. "I may not have been there, but it can't be just a coincidence."

"Well, whoever they are, we'll make them pay for defying the great Dynasty Empire," Dais stated.

"Yes," Kayura said thoughtfully. "I suggest we find these girls, then." With that, she left the Warlords to go up to the roof of the gymnasium.

"Damn her," Sekhmet grumbled as he watched Kayura's retreating figure. "I don't know how much more of her I can stand."

"Don't worry, Sekhmet," Kale said. "If she fails our Master, she'll most likely suffer the same punishment we all have. And at this rate, her failure is inevitable."

"Serena, honey," Serena's mother said as she knocked lightly on her daughter's door. "Honey, it's time to get up."

"Ok, Mom," she replied sleepily. Serena slowly sat up in her bed and stretched. After a quick shower, she got dressed and made her way downstairs. "Good morning Kento," she greeted the boy as she grabbed a donut and sat down across from him at the dining room table.

"Morning," he replied. He stuffed the rest of his toast into his mouth and pushed the newspaper towards Serena. "Check out the front page. News around here spreads fast." As she reached across the table, the phone rang.

"I've got it," she yelled out as she grabbed the portable phone and sat back down at the table. "Hello?"

"Hello, Serena? Hey, this is Molly," the girl on the other end said.

"Oh hey Molly, what's up," Serena asked.

"Did you hear about what happened? Half of the school was destroyed last night. The police are saying it was a terrorist attack," the girl replied breathlessly. "But I don't think the police really know what happened. Who ever heard of terrorists targeting an empty building at night? It just doesn't make sense."

"Yes, Molly," Serena answered. "I'm just reading about it in the newspaper right now."

"Serena, are you feeling alright," Molly asked.

"Yes, I feel fine. Why do you ask," Serena said.

"Well, you reading any part of the newspaper besides the comic section is unheard of," she exclaimed.

"Oh very funny," Serena replied sarcastically. "Well, for your information, Kento just handed the paper to me and . . ."

"Wait a minute. Who's Kento," the girl inquired.

"Who, Kento," she began. "Well he's . . ."

"There's a guy over at your house, at this time in the morning? Well, that explains why you're up so early," Molly exclaimed. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend, Serena. I'm surprised your dad hasn't killed him yet."

By this time, Serena was beginning to blush. "Molly, you're jumping to conclusions. He's not my boyfriend," she said, trying to lower her voice. Kento heard her statement, however, and looked up from his food, sitting back amused.

"Sure, Serena, that's what they all say. So, is he cute," the girl pressed.

Serena looked over at Kento, who smiled at her. "Yes, Molly, he is," she replied, turning a deeper shade of red.

"Oh, he's sitting right there in the same room with you, isn't he," she asked. "So, when do I get to meet him?"

"Listen, Molly, I've really got to go now," Serena said apologetically. "I'll call you when I get the chance."

"Ok, Serena. I've got to go meet Melvin soon anyway," Molly replied. "I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye," Serena said. She hung the phone up and set it down on the table. She could feel her face growing hotter, so she picked up the paper to read the article in order to hide her embarrassment. _"Wow, I didn't realize how much damage we did to the school last night,"_ she thought as she skimmed over the article. She set the paper down, and as she absently reached for the box of donuts, she was surprised when Kento grabbed her hand.

"So what are we going to do today, sweetheart," he asked. She giggled and slapped his hand away playfully.

"Oh stop it," she said in a mock-stern voice. "You're almost as bad as my friend!"

"Still nothing," Rei said as she sat back, disappointed. She had been awake since before dawn performing fire readings in an attempt to locate the Warlords. However, she had not been having any luck. "Where could they be?" Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. She walked over to open it, and saw Ryo standing on the other side holding a tray with tea and breakfast rolls. "Oh Ryo, come in," she said as she stepped to the side.

"Thanks," he replied as he stepped in, followed by White Blaze. "Where can I put this?"

"Right over here," she said, clearing off a spot on the table. "How did you know I was in here?"

"Well, I was up pretty early because I thought I heard a noise," he began. "I was walking past here and the door was open a bit, so I peeked in and saw you. You were concentrating really hard on something, and I didn't want to disturb you. So, I thought that I'd fix you something . . . You haven't eaten anything have you?"

"No, I haven't. Thanks so much! It's really nice of you to think of me," she replied.

"No problem. It's the least I could do in exchange for your hospitality," he replied with a shrug. "Well, I'll leave now so you can eat. Come on, White Blaze."

"Wait," she said as he turned to leave. "Why don't you stay and join me? If you're not already busy, I'd really love to have some company."

"Sure," he replied as he sat down across from her. "So, why were you up so early this morning?"

"Oh, uh, I was just doing some chores. I couldn't sleep, so I figured I might as well get up and start them early," Rei said, choosing her words carefully.

"Oh, I see. So that's what you were doing. When you were kneeling down in front of the fire, was that some sort of ritual, or were you in prayer," Ryo asked.

"Well," she began slowly, "you could call it a little bit of both. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious," he replied. "It just seems like you lead a double life."

"What," she shrieked, choking on her tea.

"Are you ok," he asked, leaning forward and patting her on the back.

"Yes, I'm fine. What do you mean by what you said," she asked suspiciously.

"I didn't mean anything by it. I would think it's hard to be a priestess in training," he replied.

"It's nothing," she said. "I wouldn't use hard to describe what I do here."

"Well, not hard . . . Difficult. Yeah, that's a better word to use." Ryo sighed as Rei suppressed a yawn. "I'm sorry. I must really sound like an idiot, so I think I'll be quiet now."

"No, it's okay. Really," she assured him. "I just . . . overreacted, I guess." She took a sip of her tea and then smiled. "Ha! The one time I admit I'm wrong, and Serena's not here to witness it."

Ryo stood up, and Rei gave him a questioning look. "I'll be right back. I'm going to go and get another cup for some tea," he said as he left the room. _"Boy, I messed up that opportunity,"_ he thought. After he grabbed the cup, he returned to the room only to find that Rei had fallen asleep on the table. He set the cup down and shook the sleeping girl gently. "Rei, wake up," he said quietly.

"Okay, Grandpa," she replied sleepily. She mumbled something else incoherently and grew silent.

Ryo smiled and picked her up gently. "Come on White Blaze," he said to his pet. "Let's get her to her room."

Later that afternoon, the girls were sitting on the steps of the Cherry Hill Temple. Serena, Mina, Amy, and Lita had showed up for lunch unexpectedly, with the other Ronins in tow. As they sat there watching the Ronins spar with each other, the girls were talking in hushed voices about the previous night's events.

"These Warlords are a lot tougher than some of the Negaverse monsters we've fought in the past," Serena said. "I was knocked out cold from just one attack!"

"Dais was hardly phased by my attack," Rei replied with a frown.

"And the woman the Warlords called Kayura must be really strong," Lita added. "She batted my attack away like it was nothing."

"The only good thing about this situation is that the Warlords don't need to collect energy as the Negaverse did," Amy added. "We would seriously be in a jam if they did."

"Don't you remember what the boys told us," Mina asked. "The Warlords are only interested in the armor the Ronins wear. I'm sure that if they got their hands on it, we'd be in a lot of trouble. The Ronins would be harmless, and there's no telling what the Warlords are truly capable of doing."

"Last night was a great example," Rei said. "If and when we fight them again, it's going to have to be somewhere a lot less populated. Hundreds of people could have been killed last night in that confrontation. We were just lucky no one was around. Our luck may not be as good the next time."

"Which is exactly why you need to find the Warlords as soon as you possibly can," Luna said suddenly as she and Artemis ran up the stairs, causing the girls to jump in surprise.

"Geez, Luna! Give us a heart attack. You scared us," Serena said through gritted teeth.

"If we surprised you, maybe you girls shouldn't be talking so openly," Artemis stated. "We could have easily been the Ronins."

"Well unlike you, Artemis, they aren't cats and can't sneak up on us," Mina replied. "But he does have a point. We need to be more careful."

Meanwhile, the Ronins had long since taken a break from their exercise. All five were sitting around panting and dripping off sweat, and each one had a variety of scrapes or bruises.

"That was a tough workout," Kento said.

"Yeah, but it was necessary," Ryo replied. "Last night's scuffle proved that we all need to be on our guard."

"We were almost wiped out," Sai commented. "The Warlords were a lot more aggressive than usual."

"If it weren't for the Sailor Scouts, I don't think we would have been as lucky," Rowen stated. "Their presence gave us just enough time to suit up."

"Well, I don't think we should depend on them so much," Sage said slowly. "They're great allies, but I don't think they'll be able to handle the Warlords. The Scouts were doing all right, but Sailor Moon was knocked out just by one attack. The last thing we need is to have to protect them and fight at the same time."

"So you don't want the help of the Sailor Scouts," Serena asked as she crossed her arms. The Ronins jumped in surprise and looked up towards Serena and the others. All five of the girls were glaring at them.

"Uh, n-no," Sage stuttered as he and the others picked themselves up off the ground, "that's not what I meant. What I meant was . . ."

"For your information," Serena interrupted, "the Scouts just had one of the toughest battles they have ever fought a few months ago. The fate of our world was in their hands, and all the Scouts died, except for Sailor Moon. The only thing that kept her motivated was the fact that everyone was counting on her, and she knew she had the love and support of her friends. The Scouts are going out on a limb to help you. They didn't know anything about the Warlords, or the Dynasty, yet they were quick to offer to help you. And you're sitting here saying how they may not be strong enough?"

"Serena, hush," Rei began.

"No, Rei," she shouted, turning to face her friend. "They don't know what we've gone through."

"Well, make us understand," Sai began.

Serena turned back around towards the Ronins, and each saw the look of pain and anguish on her face. She lowered her gaze as tears began to form in her eyes. "Excuse me," she said as she backed away and ran.

"Serena, wait," Kento exclaimed as he stepped forward to stop her.

"Just let her go," Lita said.

"I didn't mean to upset her, or any of you," Sage stated. "What I meant is that maybe we should handle the Warlords, and the Scouts should keep the soldiers occupied."

"Why was she so upset," Ryo asked, confused. The girls looked at each other nervously. "Is there something you girls aren't telling us? You know you can trust us."

"There's just a lot you guys don't know about our lives," Amy said. "The whole situation is very emotionally draining, especially for Serena. Some of it has to do with our personal lives, and it's really hard to explain."

"Right now, we need to go find Serena," Mina said quickly. "We'll go look for her. You guys stay here just in case she comes back."

The Ronins watched as the girls ran off. "Now I'm more confused than ever," Rowen stated.

"Serena, where are you," Rei said over the communicator as soon as the girls were out of sight.

"I'm right here," she replied quietly. The girls turned towards her voice and saw Serena sitting up against a tree. "I didn't go very far, did I," she asked as another wave of tears fell down her face.

"Serena, are you ok," Lita asked as she and the others sat down around their friend. "You said a little too much back there."

"I know, and I'm so sorry about that," she apologized. "But what Sage said made me so mad! I still blame myself for what happened to you guys, and what he said made me snap. If I had just been more mature and accepted my responsibility, none of you would have died, and Darien would remember who I was."

"What happened wasn't your fault, Serena," Mina exclaimed. "We were fulfilling our duties. We were protecting our Princess. No one could have prevented what happened."

"Old habits die hard, Meatball Head," Rei said. "Last night, you weren't ready to fight. None of us were, but we did, to protect you."

"That's not it," Serena said sadly as she brought her knees up to her chest. "Let's just face it; I'm a horrible leader."

"You're just so damn stubborn," Rei exclaimed. "We know you're still physically drained from that fight with Queen Beryl." Serena looked up, a surprised look on her face.

"Don't look so shocked, Serena. We know you a lot better than you may think," Amy added. "We know that using the Silver Emperial Crystal takes a lot of energy from you, and requires even more time for recovery. You never got the opportunity to fully recuperate from the times you used it."

"And that's why Dais' attacked knocked you out," Lita said. "It wasn't because you're not strong enough. It's because you're still not up to your full fighting potential."

"So you don't blame me for being hurt so easily last night," Serena asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Well, we didn't say that," Rei replied with a wink.

"What would I do without you guys," Serena asked. "Thanks so much. You guys are the best!" As the girls continued to talk, none of them noticed the slight rustling of the bushes around them.

__

To Be Continued …


	8. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 8

AAE08 ****

I don't own the rights to any of the characters that I'm using. It's strictly for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy!

An Ancient Evil

Chapter 8

"What's taking them so long," Kento asked. "Maybe we should go and find them."

"No, we've got to stay here just in case Serena comes back," Rowen said. "The best thing we can do for now is wait."

"I'm sure they're fine," Sage commented. "Serena couldn't have gone that far. Besides, the girls are just probably trying to convince her to come back here."

"White Blaze, what's wrong," Ryo asked as a low growl escaped from the tiger. He placed a hand on the tiger's broad head to try to calm him down.

"It must be the Dynasty," Sai suggested. "He wouldn't react like that if it were the girls."

"How astute of you, Ronin," Lady Kayura said. She seemed to come out from nowhere as she appeared several feet away from the five warriors. Behind her stood the four dark Warlords. "If it weren't for that animal, you'd have never known . . ."

"What do you want," Ryo interrupted.

"My, aren't we rude," she replied. "And all I wanted to do is introduce myself." She paused to smirk as the Ronins glared at her. "I am Lady Kayura. Master Talpa sent me to take care of you pests, and return to him what is rightfully his. You should be impressed. I'm one of Master Talpa's best warriors."

"Yeah, you're real impressive all right," Kento said sarcastically. "Changing our surroundings just to fail your mission is such a hard thing to do."

"How dare you mock me," Kayura began. She held her hand out, with her palm facing Kento, and a portal opened up underneath him. He screamed as he fell in and disappeared. The other Ronins gasped in shock in response.

"What did you do to him, Kayura," Sage demanded. "Bring him back now!"

"How touching," she replied. "The little Ronin is worried about his friend." She opened up another portal directly in front of her, and Kento tumbled out and fell down at her feet. "You see, I've mastered this little technique and I've got myself an effective little toy." She opened up another portal underneath Kento as he was beginning to stand up. "Heads up, Ronins," Kayura said before Kento fell down on top of them.

"That's enough Kayura," Anubis said as he stepped forward. "Ronins, our request is a simple one. All you need do is hand over your armor."

"We'll never give in to you or Talpa," Ryo said as he and the others picked themselves up. "Our fight won't end until we defeat you."

"We figured you'd say that," Dais replied with a sneer. "Don't be foolish. Without the help of that monk, you can not defeat us."

"Join us, Ronins," Kale began. "You all have such great potential. Align yourselves with our Master. Under his guidance, the world will be yours to control."

"You're wasting your time," Rowen said. He smiled as White Blaze growled again. "I think that you've outstayed your welcome, not that you _were_ welcome in the first place."

"I see," Kayura stated. She turned to the Warlords. "You heard him, boys." They were hesitant, but yielded and disappeared. Kayura was about to do the same, however she stopped. "Tell me one thing, Ronins," she began. "What were you doing before this friendly little encounter?"

"We were looking for something, not that it's any of your business," Kento spat. Kayura _tsked_ and shook her head as if she were scolding a small child.

"My, such rude manners. Perhaps you were looking for a way home," she stated. "No matter. I'm sure that animal of yours will help you search for whomever, or whatever, you were looking for." She flashed them a secretive smile as she disappeared, and realization dawned upon the Ronins immediately.

Sai looked at his friends. "You don't think that . . ."

"They've got the girls," Rowen finished.

"Then there's no time to waste," Sage began.

Ryo looked down at his pet. "Are you up for a little search, boy," he asked the tiger. "See if you can pick up the Warlords' scent." White Blaze sniffed the surroundings in several directions before picking a way to go. As the white tiger ran off, the Ronins followed closely behind him.

__

Meanwhile . . .

"Ancient," Mia said quietly as she joined the monk on the balcony, "I'm really beginning to worry about the Ronins. They've been gone for nearly a week, and I'm running out of things to tell Yuli."

"Patience, child," he replied calmly. "The Ronin Warriors have only been gone for a few days. They have time on their side."

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean," she stated. "How can they have time on their side when they don't know where they are, or even how they're going to get back here?" Mia uttered a disappointed sigh when the Ancient made no attempt to acknowledge her comment. "Listen, Yuli has these nightmares where the Ronins don't ever come back, and that makes me wonder if he's not right. Just how are the Ronins supposed to get back here?"

"The power of the ancients will bring them back here," he replied after a long, silent pause. He raised his hand to silence Mia as she opened her mouth to speak. "All in due time, Mia. They'll find their way here when the time is right."

"I suppose you're right. However I do wish that you hadn't stopped us from following them. Your place is out there, protecting other cities from a fate like ours," she said. "There's nothing out there for you to protect us from." The monk hid a smile behind his hat at her last statement. There were hundreds of Dynasty soldiers blended in with the trees that surrounded the house, waiting for the chance to strike as soon as the Ancient lowered his guard.

"My place is here with you and Yuli, Mia," the monk replied quietly.

"MIA," Yuli yelled from the interior of the house. "MIA!" The young woman looked towards the house and sighed wearily. Although Yuli was not her child, or even related to her for that matter, she took care of him because his parents had been enslaved by the Dynasty Empire. She offered the Ancient an apologetic smile, and then turned to leave. The monk watched as she disappeared inside of the house. When she was gone, he sat back down to continue his meditation. His eyes fluttered open as the rings on the staff began to clink together.

"What is it," he asked as the staff began to float in the air. He looked out over the balcony into the distance. "Be careful, my Ronins," he whispered, "and trust what is in your hearts."

~ _Back in the Scouts' world_ ~

"I can't believe this is happening," Kento said as he and the other Ronins were running. The five boys followed closely behind White Blaze.

"This is all my fault," Sage stated. "I shouldn't have said what I did. Now the Dynasty has the girls, and they're probably scared."

"Well, we can't worry about that now," Rowen said. "We have to focus on finding them."

The five boys slowed down and stopped as White Blaze came to a stop. He sat down on the ground and seemed to look at the Ronins expectantly. They looked around their surrounding and noticed that it was very similar to the warehouse where they had first found the tiger and the Sailor Scouts.

"Keep your guard up everybody," Ryo cautioned. "We've probably just walked right into a trap." The Ronins all called for their armor and fell into defensive stances as they heard the sound of footsteps. However, they automatically relaxed as the figure came into view. "Serena," Ryo gasped.

"Oh you guys," Serena exclaimed. She ran up to them and was scooped up into a bear hug by Kento as she reached them.

"Serena, are you okay," Kento asked as he released her. "Where are the others?"

"It's all my fault," Serena replied angrily. "If I hadn't run off like that, none of this would have happened."

"You can't blame yourself," Sai said. "The Warlords would have tried to get you whether or not you had run off."

"Sai's right," Rowen added. "They would have used you as bait sooner or later, just like they're doing now. They did this sort of thing back on our world all the time."

"Serena," Sage said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "we'll get them back. I swear it." She looked at him and smiled.

"I know we will, Sage," she replied as she grasped her locket. "One way or another." The six friends looked at White Blaze as he began to growl.

"Looks like they put that animal to good use after all," Kale said as he emerged from a shadow, alongside Kayura.

"Glad you could join us," Anubis said as he, Sekhmet, and Dais appeared.

"Where are my friends," Serena demanded as she balled her fists at her side. Suddenly, four Dynasty soldiers came out from one of Kayura's portals. Each soldier held one of the four girls by her arm. Serena began to step forward, but Ryo held her back.

"Your fight is with us," he began. "Release them now."

"I'm a woman who likes to gamble, Ryo of Wildfire," Kayura replied. "The odds are against you, therefore you are in no position to make demands."

"Just hand over your armor, Ronins, and the girls shall be released," Dais coaxed.

"No harm has come to them . . . yet," Sekhmet added with a sneer.

Sage looked at the girls and each had a look of fear and uncertainty on her face. He sighed in defeat. "Ryo, we have no other choice," he began. "We have to do as they say."

"We do have other options, Sage," Kento yelled. "We can't give up now! We have to fight."

"We can't risk hurting the girls," Rowen said sadly.

"This is the only way, Kento," Sage said as he willed his armor away. Kento, realizing that each of the other Ronins were doing the same thing, sighed and followed suit.

"You're smart boys, Ronins," Kayura said. "Don't think of this as a defeat. Think of it as a release from your responsibility. You no longer have to serve an unappreciative world. Now, hand over your armor and . . ."

"No," Serena interrupted. "It's not going to end this way. An evil person such as you doesn't know what it means to be a hero. It's not about being recognized for what you do!"

"It's the feeling you get when you save someone's life, or help someone in need," Amy began as she, Rei, Mina, and Lita shook loose from the soldier's grip on them.

"It's about honor," Rei said.

"And friendship," Mina continued.

"And strength," Lita added.

"But most of all, it's about not letting those you care for down," Serena finished, taking a bold step towards the Warlords.

"What a touching speech," Sekhmet said sarcastically. "What could you girls possibly do to stop us, hmm? Humor me."

"You Warlords came into our world looking for trouble, and trouble is what you're going to get," Lita exclaimed. The four girls pulled out their transformation pens and raised them into the air.

"Mercury Star Power!"

"Mars Star Power!"

"Jupiter Star Power!"

"Venus Star Power!"

The sudden burst of energy emitted from the girls instantly destroyed the four Dynasty soldiers. As their transformation was complete, the Sailor Scouts jumped into the air and landed in front of Serena. They formed a half-circle around her, however she pushed her way in front of them.

"No one messes with my friends and gets away with it," Serena told the Warlords, clenching her locket. "Moon Crystal Power!" As her transformation was completed, Sailor Moon stood there with her arms crossed and a frown upon her face. "I am Sailor Moon, Champion of love and justice," she began. "Me and my Scouts are the protectors of this world, and your evil has no place here. In the name of the moon, we will punish you!"

The Warlords stepped back in surprise. "How . . . how is this possible," Sekhmet stammered. "It's impossible! How did they do that?"

"I was right," Kale exclaimed. "These girls and the Scouts . . . are one and the same!"

"It appears the Ronins are just as shocked as we are," Anubis observed. The Warlords looked towards the Ronins, and sure enough, all five had a look of disbelief on their face.

"Well then," Kayura began, "let's use this to our advantage. Let them fight amongst themselves. Dais?"

"Right," he replied. The Warlord of Illusion closed his eyes in concentration, and dark energy began to emit from him. The purple and black energy engulfed everything it touched, and for a few seconds, it appeared that there was a blanket of fog covering the ground. Then, as fast as it had appeared, the energy was gone, and so were the Warlords.

"Hey, where'd they go," Jupiter asked, looking around the area. "I can't believe that cheap trick they pulled!"

"I wouldn't put it past them," Mars said. "After all, they went through the trouble of capturing us back at my temple."

"Well, why did they just run," Venus asked. "They didn't even leave any soldiers for us to fight us."

"Yes, that is strange," Mercury said. The Scouts spun around suddenly when they heard the sound of metal against metal.

"Oh, it's just you guys," Sailor Moon commented with a smile. The Ronins once again had on their armor. "Well, the Warlords are gone, so you didn't have to equip your armor. They didn't even leave any soldiers for us to . . ."

"Just shut up," Kento growled. The sudden harshness of his voice caused the Scouts to step back in shock.

"I know you're upset that we didn't tell you the whole truth, but that's no reason to be so mean," Sailor Moon said. "We can explain why we didn't tell you everything." Suddenly, Kento grabbed Sailor Moon, pinned arm behind her back and pushed her to the ground.

"Hey, what's your problem Kento," Jupiter said as she pushed Kento away from Sailor Moon. "If you ever put a hand on her again, I'll . . ."

"Watch out, Jupiter," Venus screamed. However, her warning came too late as Sage tackled Jupiter to the ground.

"Sage, get off of me," Jupiter yelled, as she pushed him off of her. She quickly stood up and faced him. The two weren't staring each other down for long before they began exchanging punches. Sailor Moon slowly picked herself off the ground, and took in her surroundings.

_"What has gotten into them,"_ she asked herself. She watched in horror as Mercury, Mars, and Venus were each fighting off Sai, Kento, and Sage respectively. "Ryo," she began as she turned towards the Ronin leader, "call them off now! Someone's going to get hurt."

"Fat chance of that happening, Kayura," Ryo said. "Why don't you call off your Warlords if you're that concerned?"

"Ryo, what are you talking about," Sailor Moon asked. "It's me, Serena." She reached out to him, but he slapped her hand away. He jumped back and pulled his swords out of their sheath.

"We finish this now, Lady Kayura," Ryo said as he advanced towards her.

"Ryo, please stop," Sailor Moon said as she began backing away in fear. "Ryo, stop," she screamed once again, smacking him across the face as hard as she could.

"Is that all you've got," he challenged. He backed away from her and put the butts of his swords together. "Flare Up Now," he screamed as he jumped up into the air. As he swung his swords to send the attack towards her, White Blaze jumped on Ryo and pinned him to the ground. "White Blaze, what are you doing," Ryo demanded. "Let me up now!" Slowly, the tiger backed up off of him and then went over to Sailor Moon and stood next to her.

"Ryo, I don't know what's wrong with you, but you've got to stop," Sailor Moon told him.

"I don't know how you turned my tiger against me, but I'll still defeat you and the Warlords, Kayura," Ryo said in a low voice. He looked towards the other Ronins, but they were knocked out.

"Sailor Moon," Mercury said as she and the other Scouts limped towards their leader, "it's all an illusion. I checked my visor, and the fog that Dais created before the Warlords disappeared is one of his mind tricks. The Ronins think we're the Warlords."

_"It all makes sense now,"_ Sailor Moon thought to herself. "Ryo of Wildfire, we've got you beaten. Surrender now, or the Ronins will pay for your stubbornness." The Scouts looked at Sailor Moon with confused looks on their faces, but she just ignored them. Ryo sighed and slowly replaced his swords to their sheath. He joined the fallen Ronins, and then willed his armor away.

"Do whatever you want to me, Warlords, but leave the others alone," Ryo stated.

"Trust me, Ryo, I didn't want to have to do this, but it will make you normal again," Sailor Moon said. She stood in front of the five Ronins and pulled out her scepter. "Moon Healing Activation!" The attack surrounded the five Ronins and engulfed them all. There was a bright flash, and when it was gone, Ryo was knocked out alongside his teammates.

"Did it work," Mars asked as she gingerly touched the bruise that was beginning to form on her arm.

"I hope so," Venus commented. "I really don't want to fight them again."

"We would lose the second time around," Jupiter said as she slowly rotated her shoulder. "I'm glad that they're really on our side."

"Let's just get them back to the temple," Mercury suggested. "We're going to have a lot to talk about once they regain consciousness."

__

To Be Continued . . .


	9. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 9

AAE09 ****

I don't own the rights to any of the characters that I'm using. It's strictly for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy! 

An Ancient Evil

Chapter 9

"Sailor Moon, what happened," Luna asked the girl as she and the Scouts collapsed on the ground. "We've been out here looking for you girls for over an hour." The girls had returned to the Cherry Hill Temple after their fight with the Ronins. They were exhausted, and had to figure out a way to get the Ronins back to the temple, but they dragged them back the entire way. Luna had just cause to be concerned because the girls' appearance looked a lot worse than it actually was. Each of their uniforms had dirt on them, and each girl had a variation of cuts or bruises.

"Well," Serena began as she and the others reverted back to their regular clothing, "I don't think that you're going to like the answer."

"Come out with it already, Serena," Luna said impatiently.

"Ok Luna," Serena began as she sat down on the temple stairs. "Do you remember how I ran off earlier?"

"Yes," Luna answered. "What's your point?"

"Well, the girls came after me, and we were caught by the Warlords," Serena said cautiously.

"You were what," Luna asked incredulously.

"How did you get yourself out of that situation," Artemis asked.

By this time, Serena was beginning to get really nervous. Mina noticed this, and spoke up. "We didn't exactly get out of it, Artemis," she said. "The Ronins had to come and save us."

"That would explain why they look so beat up, but why do you girls look like you just survived a battle," Luna asked. The girls exchanged nervous glances, but remained silent.

"Well, look at the time," Serena said as she looked at her bare wrist. "Mom will get so angry if . . ."

"Serena, what did you do," Artemis demanded.

"I swear it wasn't my fault," Serena began hurriedly. "I know I shouldn't have run off, but Sage made me so mad with what he said! Then the girls came after me, and before I knew it, Dynasty soldiers had surrounded us. I don't know how it happened, but the next thing I knew, I was running towards the Ronins. They were about to surrender to the Warlords, and I just started talking and . . . and . . ."

"And we transformed," Rei finished. "We didn't care that the Ronins and the Warlords were there. Serena was in danger, and we had to protect her."

"Don't say anything yet," Lita told the two cats. "Our duty is to protect the Princess of the Moon. And if that means that our identities become known, then that's how it has to be. Our mission comes before our safety."

"For once, I have to agree with you," Luna said after a moment of silence. This statement caused the girls and Artemis to gape at her. "However," she continued, "it doesn't mean that I'm not upset. Serena, your new attitude is very admirable. It has truly been refreshing finally seeing you take your responsibility seriously. Your actions today, however, caused a big problem. Not only do the Ronins know who you are, so do the Warlords. This means that you'll all be in constant danger."

Artemis regained his composure and looked in the direction of the Ronins. "We'll need to find a way to return the Ronins and Warlords to their own time. The longer they're here, the more danger you girls will be in." The girls grew silent, and looked over in the direction of the Ronins when they heard one of them groan.

"Artemis is right," Rowen said as he sat up slowly. He smiled weakly before continuing. "Now that the Warlords know your identities, it won't take them long to track you down. Once they do that, they'll try to kill you. It won't matter where you are, or how many people are around."

"Because you defied them, they see you as their enemy. If anything happens to you girls, it will be our fault," Sai commented as he and the others came to their senses.

"If we had just defeated our enemy, we'd have never been put in this situation," Kento said angrily. "And we'd have never put you or your world in danger. If only we hadn't allowed the Warlords to capture you girls, none of this would be happening."

"From warrior to warrior, I can only offer my deepest apologies," Sage began as he sat down next to Serena. "We should have had better control over our minds earlier, and because we didn't, we could have injured you badly."

"If you don't want to help us anymore, we'll understand completely," Ryo said. "However, we will keep a close eye on all of you. The last thing we ever wanted was for something to happen to you at the hands of the Warlords. They're our enemies, and we should be able take care of them by ourselves."

"What," Rei asked. "We need each other now more than we ever had before. We were able to handle our own enemies, but the power of the Warlords is incredible. Without you guys, we would be in serious trouble. I have no doubt that we would lose our lives if we were ever to come up against the Warlords again."

"The ten of us together against the Warlords makes a lot more sense," Lita added. "You guys saw what our attacks did to the Warlords."

"Teach us what you know about the Warlords, Ronin Warriors, and we'll stand a better chance against them," Amy said.

"Well, Serena, what do you think," Ryo asked her. "You're their leader. Will you and your Scouts help us?"

Serena looked up from where she was sitting and frowned. "Are you kidding," she asked angrily, "after what happened today?"

"Serena, you can't be serious," Mina exclaimed. "We have to help them!"

"Let me finish, Mina," Serena said. "The Warlords captured us, so now it's a little too late to point fingers. What's done is done, and it can't be undone. They humiliated us, and tricked you guys . . . Of course we'll help you defeat them!"

"We're a team, then, right," Ryo asked as he extended his hand towards Serena.

"Of course," she replied as she shook his hand.

Luna cleared her throat, and all eyes turned to her. "Now that you boys know the truth, there's a couple of things I'd like to say," she began. "First you, Serena. You know what you're destined for, therefore you are not to put yourself in reckless danger."

"Sure thing, Luna. Does that mean you'll give Darien his memories back," she asked hopefully.

"I don't think so, Serena," Artemis said. "You need to have a clear head, and you can't worry about him getting hurt. It will be best if he stays as he is."

"But Artemis, I miss him so much," Serena began. "He's always been there to protect me, and I need him by my side. Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon - it just makes more sense."

"No, Serena, and that's final," Luna said firmly. "As for you girls, I expect you, too, to be really careful. You're just as important as Serena is."

"Excuse me, I don't want to sound rude, but what are you talking about," Rowen asked.

"Well, it's a long story, actually," Artemis replied. "You all know about the girls' past, but you don't know what the future holds for them. To explain it simply, there will be a time of peace here like on the Moon Kingdom. The only difference will be that Serena and her husband will reign as queen and king, and the Scouts will protect them."

"So Serena's a princess or something," Kento asked.

"Yes, something like that," Artemis replied.

"Artemis, it's going to be a long time before that happens," Serena said as she began to blush. "It's embarrassing to think about."

"And that's exactly why Darien doesn't need to have his memories back just yet," Luna commented. She sighed as Serena stuck her tongue out at her. "As I was saying, you girls just make sure to keep a closer eye on Serena, and just be extra careful. As for you, Ronins, I hope we're able to help you in defeating the Warlords. The Scouts will try not to get in your way too much, but they will be useful. They're a lot tougher than they look."

"We know that now, Luna," Ryo said. "We really appreciate all that you girls have done for us. There's no way for us to repay you for your kindness. The only thing we can do is getting the Warlords out of your world."

"We'll defeat them together," Lita commented. "But for now, I say we get something to eat. I'll go to the store and buy some groceries. Then I'll come back here and fix some food. How does that sound?"

"That's the best thing I've heard all day," Sai said as his stomach growled.

"I'll go with you, Lita," Sage offered.

"Ok, great! Let's go," she said. As the two disappeared around the gate, the group continued to talk.

Meanwhile, the Warlords had long since returned to the abandoned gymnasium. At the present time, the five of them were kneeling in front of an image of Talpa, for he had contacted them through the use of the Netherworld spirits.

"Lord Talpa, it's an honor for you to grace us with your presence," Kayura said. "Is there something you wished to say?"

"Why haven't the five of you returned with the Ronin armor," he demanded. "The fact that this is taking so long has angered me. Was it a mistake to send you along with the Warlords, Lady Kayura?"

"Of course not, Lord Talpa," she stammered. "The Ronins have found themselves allies in this world, Master."

"Are you having trouble defeating them," Talpa asked.

"No, it's nothing like that," she began. "They can easily be defeated. I'm simply playing a game with them, Lord Talpa. I'm waiting for them to drop their guard so that they will be completely overpowered when we attack."

"Lord Talpa, may I say something," Sekhmet asked.

"There's nothing else that needs to be said, Sekhmet," Kayura began.

"Silence, Kayura. You make it sound as if you have something to hide," Talpa commented.

"Of course not, Master," she said quietly.

"Then make it quick, Sekhmet. My patience is wearing thin," Talpa growled.

"Thank you, Lord Talpa," he replied as he sneered at Kayura. "The other night was the first time we came up against the allies of the Ronins. Our power was obviously greater than theirs, however Lady Kayura stopped us from capturing the Ronins' armor."

"Is this true, Lady Kayura," Talpa asked.

"Yes, it's true, Lord Talpa," she answered slowly. "However, what Sekhmet doesn't fully comprehend is that even if we were to acquire the armor, we wouldn't have been able to return because Kale wasn't with us. Once we return to you, we wouldn't be able to return to this place very easily. Also, I wanted to test the Ronins' allies and see if perhaps they would add on to your power."

"Silence," Talpa boomed. "Kale, why weren't you there?"

"Lady Kayura ordered me to stay put in case the soldiers she sent were to return," Kale replied. "Also, we had a falling out of sorts. I disagreed with her plan, and it angered her."

"You've disappointed me, Kayura," Talpa stated. "You have failed to be a competent leader. Anubis, I'm assigning you as Kayura's advisor. If you disagree with one of her plans, then you are to change it."

"Yes, Lord Talpa," Anubis answered.

"Master Talpa, it won't be necessary for you to do this. I won't fail you again," Kayura said. At this, energy shot out from the projection of Talpa towards Kayura. It surrounded her, and she screamed in pain.

"Do not so openly question my judgement, Kayura," Talpa told her as she writhed in pain on the ground. "I shall be lenient this time, and I'll give you a week to get my armor." Anubis, Sekhmet, Kale, and Dais rose as Talpa's image disappeared.

"Well, that went better than expected," Kale commented. "For us, anyway."

"If only you had listened to our suggestions, Kayura, you wouldn't be in the position you're in," Sekhmet taunted.

"She's a decent leader," Dais began, "however, she is still just a _woman_."

"Leave her be," Anubis ordered. "Come, Kayura, let me help you stand." He reached down to help her up, however she pulled away from him.

"Do not touch me," she said in a low voice. "I need time to think of a plan." Slowly, she stood up and made her way to the stairs that led up to the roof.

"Honestly, Anubis, I hope you're not going soft," Kale commented as Kayura left. "She's the weak link in our group. I hope you realize that before it's too late. I won't be punished for your stupidity."

"I don't know why Master Talpa sent either of them," Sekhmet began. "The three of us could have easily handled the Ronins."

Anubis walked over to Sekhmet and punched him in the stomach, causing him to double over. "Don't ever question Master Talpa's judgement, Sekhmet," Anubis cautioned, "or I'll personally see to it that you be punished."

"The food was great, Lita," Kento complimented as he finished his food. "Where did you learn to cook like that?"

"Thanks Kento. It's a natural talent, I guess," she replied with a smile. "I'm just glad you liked it."

The girls and Ronins were still at the Cherry Hill Temple. Lita had decided to cook there since it was big enough for ten people to dine. Ryo and Serena each sat at an end to the table, while the girls sat on one side of the table and the boys sat on the other. Luna and Artemis were nowhere to be found, and White Blaze was lying down next to Ryo's chair. After everyone was done eating, Mina and Rowen cleared off the table while Amy and Sai washed the dishes. When everything was washed and put away, the group moved to the main room and sat down to talk.

"Hey Serena," Kento began, "tell us more about Tuxedo Mask."

"Oh, well you probably figured out that Tuxedo Mask is really Darien. Just like the rest of us, he had a feeling he had some sort of duty to fulfill," Serena explained. "And just like the Scouts, his duty was to find the Moon Princess. At the time, they didn't know that I was the Princess. Neither did I, for that matter." She grew silent as she remembered the events that lead to the discovery of her secret identity. "It's a long story, and really painful to think about."

"So, how did Darien lose him memory," Ryo asked.

"I'll answer this one, Serena," Mina said. "Well, when we died, we were all resurrected by the Silver Emperial Crystal. For some reason, I guess that Darien forgot about his destiny. It's really strange, because the four of us didn't forget anything at all."

"Actually, that's not true," Serena said. "After the fight with Queen Beryl, I was the only one that remembered all that had happened. I thought that it would just be best to let the four of you lead a semi-normal life, at least until another enemy threatened. But Luna saw how depressed I was, so she gave you your memories back."

"Oh Serena, we had no idea," Amy said.

"There's more," Serena continued. "After you guys . . . died, I went to confront Beryl. Darien was there with her, and she had him completely under her control. She ordered him to kill me, and you can imagine my surprise when he told her he'd do anything for his _queen_. So we fought, and I defeated him to protect myself. When he was himself again, there was so much love in his eyes for me. We shared one last kiss, and then he was gone." (AN: I don't remember that episode exactly, so I'll improvise!)

"Serena, why did you keep this bottled up," Rei demanded. "You shouldn't have had to keep this to yourself."

"I'm fine, Rei," Serena assured her. "Remembering this made me realize that Luna and Artemis are right. It wouldn't be right for Darien to remember anything right now. It wouldn't be fair to him."

"Well, what about you guys," Lita asked, changing the subject.

"Aside from what you already know, there's really nothing else to tell," Ryo answered. "We all came together when Talpa and the Dynasty first invaded our world. We've been fighting him ever since."

"Then again, there is Mia, Yuli, and the Ancient," Sai commented.

"Oh man, I haven't thought about them since we got here," Rowen exclaimed. "I wonder how they're doing?"

"Who are Mia, Yuli, and the Ancient," Mina asked.

"The Ancient is sort of like our guide," Ryo said. "Kind of like what Luna and Artemis are to you."

"As for Mia and Yuli, they're two occupants of the city Talpa invaded," Sage explained. "Mia has helped us learn more about our armor. I don't know what we'd do without her. Yuli is just a little boy who was separated from his parents when the citizens of the city were enslaved. Mia has been taking care of him, and she also gave the five of us somewhere to stay."

"You know, we're all a lot alike," Mina said thoughtfully. "It's too bad we didn't meet under different circumstances. We would have all been friends. We are now, of course, but once you guys leave, it'll be like we never met."

"I know," Serena exclaimed. "We can take a group picture! They say a picture is worth a thousand words. We'd never forget each other that way."

"I'll go get a camera," Rei said as she left the room. She returned a couple of minutes later with the camera and a tripod. "Well, this is your camera, Serena, so come set it up."

While Serena was getting the camera ready, everyone else got together in a group. "Ok, get together a little closer," she told them. "Make sure to leave room for me, though. Get just a little closer together . . . There, that's perfect!" She set the timer, and ran over to join the group. As she was running, she tripped over a bump in the rug, and Kento caught her. Like clockwork, the camera snapped a picture.

"Look what you did, Meatball Head," Rei said through her giggles. "How did I know something like that would happen?"

"Don't you start, Rei," Serena replied with a smile.

"Grandpa," Rei yelled. A moment later, an elderly man came into the room.

"Yes, Rei, what is it," he asked.

"Could you please take a picture of us," she asked him. "Serena tripped and the other picture we took might not have turned out good."

"Sure, no problem," he replied as he picked the camera up off the tripod. "Be ready on the count of three. One . . . two . . . and three!" The group smiled as he snapped the picture.

"Thanks, Grandpa. And before you ask, no, they're not our boyfriends. This is Ryo, Rowen, Sai, Sage, and Kento," Rei said as she introduced the boys.

"Well, that's nice," her grandfather replied before leaving. "You kids behave."

"Well, I'd hate to be the voice of reason, but what are we going to do now," Mina asked after Rei's grandpa left the room.

"There's not much more we can do tonight," Amy said as she looked at her watch. "Usually, we'd be going to school tomorrow, but with all the damage to the school, I seriously doubt we'll be going."

"That's a good point, Amy," Serena replied.

"I guess we should go home, then," Lita suggested. "We can go get the film developed tomorrow, then go from there."

"It sounds like a plan, then," Rei said as she stood up. She showed everyone except Ryo to the door. "See you tomorrow, guys." Ryo smiled at her as she returned to the room.

"It's been a long day, huh," he asked as she sat down.

"Yeah, it has," she replied. "Things definitely didn't turn out as we planned."

"You know, I kind of figured out that you girls were the Scouts," Ryo said. "There were little clues and hints here and there. For instance, back on the docks when we were fighting those soldiers, you used the same move that Sailor Mars used to freeze Sekhmet in place."

"I was hoping you didn't pick up on that," she replied with a smile. "This morning you seemed like you wanted to ask me something. Is that what it was?"

"Yeah, but you fell asleep before I could ask you anything," Ryo answered.

"Well, now the truth is out," Rei said as she stood up and stretched. "I'm pretty tired, so I think I'll go to bed. I'll see you in the morning, Ryo. Good night."

"Sleep well, Rei," he replied.

__

To Be Continued . . .

__

I know that was a pretty bad place to stop, and I'm sorry about that. This is slowly winding down to the end. The next part may be the last, but it will depend on how I write it. Thanks for reading my fic. Don't forget to leave your comments!


	10. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 10

AAE10 ****

I don't own the rights to any of the characters that I'm using. It's strictly for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy!

An Ancient Evil

Chapter 10

"Hey, this one turned out a lot better than I thought it would," Rei said as everyone gathered around her to look at the pictures. The picture she was talking about was the one that Serena had attempted to take. Lita and Sage were on the far left. Standing next to them were Amy and Sai, Rei and Ryo, and Mina and Rowen. Serena and Kento were in the middle. All of them were laughing at Serena, who looked like she had collapsed in Kento's arms.

"Yeah, that is kind of funny," Serena replied. "Thanks for catching me Kento."

"No problem," he replied.

Rei turned to the next picture, and it was the one her grandpa had taken. It was the same as the last picture, only this one was a lot more formal, and they were standing in the same order. The guys had their arms around the girls' shoulders, and the girls had their arms wrapped around the guys' waists. All ten of them had big smiles on their faces.

"Well, this one definitely catches you more gracefully, Serena," Amy teased. They continued to flip through the pictures. Most of them were pictures of the girls at school or just hanging out, and Molly and Melvin were also in a couple of them. The last one, however, was a picture of Serena and Darien. It was obvious that someone had caught the two during what was supposed to be a private moment. Serena's head was resting on his chest, and Darien had his arms wrapped around her protectively.

"Hey," Serena exclaimed. "I don't remember anyone ever taking this one! Wait a minute . . . I remember once that Darien said that he had seen a flash of light. Which one of you took it?"

Mina meekly raised her hand. "I'm guilty of that one," she replied. "The two of you just looked so cute together. I couldn't help it."

"Well, I'm glad you took it," Serena confessed. "This photo brings back a lot of memories."

Rei cleared her throat. "Well we did get doubles, guys," she told the Ronins. She took a copy of each of the group pictures and handed them to Ryo. "Don't forget us, now."

"We wouldn't be able to even if we tried," Kento teased.

*****

Meanwhile, Kayura was sitting on the roof of the gymnasium meditating. It seemed that she spent all of her time up there. Suddenly, her eyes flew open, and she stiffened. "What is it, Anubis," she asked.

"Lady Kayura, you should ignore the others," he said as he stepped out of the doorway. "They're just intimidated because you're a woman."

"Why the sudden show of kindness, Anubis," she asked almost venomously. "I'm not a frail creature, you know."

"Of course not," he replied coldly. "I just sense something different in you. Why did Master Talpa suddenly insist you help us?"

"I don't know," she said. "Master Talpa raised me as his daughter since I was a little girl. My parents cared nothing of me and he took me in . . . But what's past is past. What did you really come up here for?"

"Well," he began. "Master Talpa said we only had a week to acquire his armor. What do you have planned?"

"My game with the Ronins will soon to come an end," she replied as she looked out over the building into the city. "For now, I'll just send more soldiers into the city. That is, of course, if you don't have any objections."

"No," came his reply.

"Good," she said as she extended her hands. A portal was formed, and several Dynasty soldiers stepped out. "Go cause trouble in the city," she commanded. "Somewhere well populated. Do not fail me." She watched as the soldiers bounded off, and an evil smiled crossed her face. "Now we'll see how angry they can get."

*****

Later that afternoon, everyone had once again gathered at the Cherry Hill Temple. The group had spent a little more time at the mall than they had planned to, so they were vigorously sparring with each other. Although the boys had an edge over the girls, the Scouts were all doing pretty well, except for Serena.

"Ouch Kento, that kind of hurt," she complained. Kento sighed, then dropped his fighting stance. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to complain. I'm just not used to doing stuff like this," she apologized.

"Don't worry about it, Serena," he reassured her. "We can take a little break." The two sat down on the steps and watched as the others continued sparring. Kento looked at White Blaze, who suddenly growled and began to pace. "What is it boy," he asked. Suddenly, a scream pierced the air.

"Serena, watch out," a girl shrieked.

Serena looked in the direction of the voice, and saw Molly standing next to Melvin. For some reason, Molly looked really frightened. "Molly, what's wrong," Serena asked.

"Th-there's a t-tiger," she stammered. "It's going to eat us all!"

"Who, White Blaze," Serena asked in a confused voice. "He's as harmless as a kitten. Well, unless you make him angry."

"Where in the world did you get a tiger, Serena," Melvin asked. "You should get rid of it, or the proper authorities will come and lock it up." By this time, the others had stopped sparring and turned their attention towards the two newcomers.

"Hey, no one's going to get rid of my tiger," Ryo said. He placed a hand on White Blaze's head. "Go inside the Temple, boy." The tiger gave one last side wards glance at the newcomers, and then disappeared into the temple. "There, he's gone now," Ryo told them.

"Where did you get that tiger from," Melvin asked as he pushed his glasses up. "It's not every day that you . . ."

"Um, Melvin," Serena interrupted, "what made you and Molly stop by here?"

"Well, Melvin and I stopped by your house first, Serena," Molly began. "Your mom told us you were here, so we decided to stop by. We haven't talked to you in so long. Who are your friends?"

"This is Ryo, Sage, Sai, Rowen, and Kento," Serena replied as she pointed out each person respectively.

"Oh, so you're Kento! You were right, Serena," Molly replied as she winked at her. This statement caused Serena to blush a deep red. "I'm Molly, and this is my boyfriend Melvin," she continued.

"Nice to meet you," the five boys said in unison.

"Likewise," Melvin commented.

"What's in that basket you've got there," Kento asked as he noticed the picnic basket for the first time.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Serena mumbled under her breath.

"What was that, Serena," Melvin asked. Serena shook her head and smiled. "Well, Molly and I were about to have a picnic down in the park. We're having pickle and cheese sandwiches, tofu, bottled water, and rutabaga cookies. Care to join us?" By the time Melvin was finished spouting out what was on his _menu_, everyone looked sick to their stomachs.

"I'm just having a salad and water," Molly commented with a smile.

"No offense, Melvin, but maybe next time," Ryo replied politely.

"Ok, but you don't know what you're missing," he exclaimed. "Let's go, Molly."

"Alright," she replied as she linked arms with him. "We really do need to get together soon, Serena, and talk about . . . things." She said the last part while looking from Serena to Kento, and then back to Serena. "It was nice meeting you all," she said as she and Melvin walked off.

"Oh man," Kento exclaimed as the group watched Molly and Melvin leave. "How can he eat that stuff? Just thinking of it makes me lose my appetite!" Everyone laughed at his statement, and he smiled. "Well, it's true!"

After a small break, everyone resumed their sparring session, including Serena and Kento. She was doing a lot better this time, however.

"Ha," she said triumphantly as she flipped Kento on his back. She lightly placed a foot on his chest. "I got you!"

"Ok, you win," he congratulated. "Will you help me up?" As Serena extended her hand to help him stand, she was taken by surprise as Kento picked her up and flung her over his shoulder. "Never underestimate your opponent, Serena," he told her as he began to spin around.

"Kento! Kento put me down," she squealed. "I think I'm going to be sick!" He stopped quickly and set her feet on the ground. She grabbed his shoulder to steady herself, and then looked at him and winked. "Gotcha!"

"Those two act like a couple," Lita commented as she blocked a hit from Sage. She threw a punch of her own and, surprisingly, it got through. "Oh Sage, are you ok," she asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied as he rubbed his jaw. "You really think they'd make a good couple?"

"Well, yeah. Look how they act together," she stated as she turned to look at the two. "Well, that is if she wasn't so loyal to Darien."

"I think a lot of things would be different under different circumstances," Sage said wistfully.

"What do you mean," Lita asked as she locked eyes with him.

"Well, for one thing, I wouldn't mind getting to know you better," he began as he gave her a small smile. "And what Mina said yesterday is true. I think we'd all be really great friends. Or maybe something more ...?"

"I'd like that too," she replied with a blush. She shook her head and punched him lightly in the arm. "We'd better get back to work. And don't forget to block this time."

"Hey, something's not right," Rei said suddenly with a frown on her face. Almost at the same time, White Blaze came bounding down the stairs from out of the Temple. "It would take some time, but we could go do a fire reading," she suggested.

"I've got a faster way," Amy replied. She took out her transformation pen. "Mercury Star Power!" The guys shielded their eyes from the sudden burst of light, and when they opened them again, Sailor Mercury was standing there. "Ok," she said as she pressed her earring. She gasped as she read the readings on the visor. "There's a disturbance in the park!" (**AN -** _Don't forget that the Mercury-computer was destroyed in an earlier fight._)

"The park," Serena exclaimed. "That's where Molly and Melvin went! We've got to help them. Sailor Scouts, transform!"

"Ronins, to arms," Ryo exclaimed. After the ten warriors had transformed, they rushed in the direction of the park . . .

*****

"Melvin, I'm scared," Molly said fearfully as the two took shelter behind a group of bushes. The scene in front of them was one of total chaos. People were running around screaming, and the soldiers were destroying everything in sight.

"Don't worry, Molly," he reassured her. "The Sailor Scouts will be here soon, and then everything will be fine." Suddenly, his eyes grew big, and he grabbed Molly's wrist. "Let's move!" Seconds after the two moved away, trees crashed down in the spot they had occupied.

"That was close," Molly stated unsteadily. She looked at Melvin and gasped. "Melvin, watch out!" Her warning, however, came too late. An airborne trashcan hit him head-on, and he fell to the ground unconscious. "No," she screamed. She cradled his head in her lap and began to rock him gently as silent tears ran down her face. "Oh no, please, not again. Don't leave me like Nephrite did, Melvin." She looked up as she saw a shadow fell on them. Dynasty soldiers surrounded them, and the one directly in front of her had a weapon raised in the air. She held Melvin tighter and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!"

Cautiously, Molly looked in the direction the voice had come from, and tears filled her eyes. "Sailor Scouts," she choked. "You came!" Sailor Moon rushed over to her, and embraced the shaking girl.

"Of course we came," she said gently. "What happened?"

"Melvin got hit by a flying trashcan, and was knocked unconscious," she explained. "Is he… is he…?"

"No," Mercury said as she checked the boy's pulse. "He should be fine, but he will have a nasty bump on his head." Sailor Moon and Mercury watched as the remainder of the Scouts and the Ronins fought the soldiers.

"Who are they," Molly asked through her tears.

"They're friends," Sailor Moon replied. "They've come to help us." All three of the girls looked down at Melvin as he moaned. "Our work is done here, Molly. Take care of him," Sailor Moon stated as she and Mercury went to join the others.

"Super Wave Smasher," Sai of Torrent yelled as he sent his attack crashing into some of the soldiers.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" The magic-empowered discus flew in an arch and destroyed the rest of the soldiers. She caught it, and placed the tiara on her forehead. "That'll teach those creeps," she said satisfied.

"Why would the Warlords attack this park instead of us," Ryo asked. He began to remove his helmet, however Mars stopped him.

"You don't want to do that while these people are still around," she cautioned. He nodded his head in understanding, and she frowned, rubbing her chin. "Maybe they're just trying to get us angry, so that we'll make a mistake."

"Well, whatever their plan was, it was a dirty one," Kento replied.

"I haven't seen Molly look so distraught since Nephrite died," Mercury* said thoughtfully. "We should probably see her home."

(***AN** - _It was pointed out to me earlier, when I had Venus, that Venus wasn't there when Nephrite died. ^_^* So, I changed it to Mercury, instead._)

"We'll meet you back at the Temple," Ryo said. "It's probably better if we don't spend too much time around anyone beside you. It might get someone hurt." The Ronins said their good-byes and headed back towards the Temple.

*****

The next couple of days went by pretty much uneventfully. Although the Dynasty attacks became more frequent, the Warlords had yet to show themselves again. The Ronins spent their time teaching the Scouts about the Warlords attacks and training with them.

"The only attack we don't know are those of Lady Kayura's," Sage said with a frown. "We've never come up against her before."

"Something doesn't sit right about her with me," Rowen said. "But I can't place what it is."

"She does seem different than the other Warlords," Sai said. "Did you notice that she doesn't have armor? Our armor and the armor of the Warlords form Talpa's armor, so there must be something special about her."

"None of that matters," Ryo said. "She still works for the Dynasty, so she's a threat to us all."

"Ronin Warriors," a voice said from outside. Everyone looked at each other, and rushed outside. There, standing in the courtyard, were the Warlords.

"You girls stay back for now," Ryo told them. "If it looks like we need help, then transform. But only if it looks like we need help."

"We tire of playing around," Lady Kayura stated. "We'll end this now!"

"Fine by us," Ryo retorted. "Ronins, to arms! Armor of Wildfire, tao jin!"

"Armor of Halo, tao chi!"

"Armor of Torrent, tao shin!"

"Armor of Hard Rock, tao gi!"

"Armor of Strata, tao inochi!"

It was the girls' turn to shield their eyes at the sudden flash of light. They watched in awe as cherry blossom petals swirled around each Ronin. Red, green, light blue, orange, and dark blue armor formed on each of them respectively. When the transformation was complete, the Ronin Warriors were fully armored and their weapons were in their hands.

"There was no reason for all of you to transform," Kayura began. "The fight will be between Ryo of Wildfire and myself. If I win, and I will, you must all hand over your armor."

"That wasn't the plan, Kayura," Kale spat.

"Looks like she's overstepping her boundaries again," Sekhmet sneered.

"Anubis, do something about this," Dais demanded.

"Silence, all of you," Kayura screamed. She opened a portal underneath the three men, and they disappeared.

"Kayura, what have you done with them," Anubis asked.

"I sent them back to the building. I couldn't take anymore of their babble," she stated. Anubis glared at her, but remained silent. "Now, Ryo of Wildfire, what do you say," she asked as she unsheathed her starlight swords. Her weapons looked more like sais, however, until the middle prong extended to twice the length of the ones on either side.

"You've got it," he said as he took his swords from their sheath on his back. They circled each other with their drawn weapons before Ryo finally lunged at her. He swung his swords at her, and she easily blocked. _"She's good,"_ he thought to himself as she returned some of his swings. This continued on, and Ryo was beginning to tire.

"You're not getting tired, are you, Ryo of Wildfire," Kayura taunted. He swung his weapons at her once again. As she dodged the attack, she managed to position one of her weapons against his throat. She smirked as he dropped his swords to the ground. "Now, do as you said you would," she said as she stepped in front of him. She dropped her hands to her side. "I've defeated you. Hand over your armor."

"I'm not defeated until I'm dead," Ryo said evenly. Kayura gasped in surprise, but recovered quickly.

"Have it your way then, fool," she replied. She stepped away from him and began to swing her weapons in an up and down motion. Her hair began to rise up into the air as the wind picked up around her. "Star Sword Screa...aaah," she finished as one of Rowen's arrows flew past her and nicked the metal plate on her chest. She fell to her knees and the plate clinked to the ground. 

"Lady Kayura, get up," Anubis said.

"What happened? Where am I," she asked as she shook her head.

"Lady Kayura, get a hold of yourself," Anubis demanded.

Kayura looked at him, a confused look on her face. "Who...who are you," she murmured, tears of confusion clouding her eyes. She looked up suddenly, watching as the metal plate floated up into the air and back towards her. She screamed in agony and pain as it reattached itself to the chain around her neck. Energy that looked like electricity ran over her body, and she fainted.

"Hey, is she alright," Serena asked, concern evident in her voice. The Warlord looked at her, glaring as his weapon appeared in his hand.

"Quake With Fear," Anubis screamed. The chains took the Ronins and the girls by surprise as they were entangled in them. "We'll continue this later," Anubis said. He picked Lady Kayura up, and he seemed to disappear.

Luna and Artemis ran outside from the Temple. They gazed up at the ten warriors as they struggled against the chains. "You need to stop hanging around," Luna said, which caused them to groan in disgust.

"Luna, that's not funny," Serena replied. "Help us get down from here!"

__

To Be Continued . . .


	11. An Ancient Evil, Chapter 11

AAE11 ****

I don't own the rights to any of the characters that I'm using. It's strictly for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy!

An Ancient Evil

Chapter 11

Mia, Yuli, and the Ancient were at the lake just outside of Mia's house. Mia was sunbathing, however she also kept a close eye on Yuli, who was wading on the shore. The Ancient sat in the shade the trees provided as he diligently kept watch over them.

"I haven't relaxed like this in such a long time," Mia murmured as she rubbed sun tan lotion on her arms and legs. She looked over at Yuli and smiled. "Yuli, come over here and get some sun tan lotion on!"

"Alright, Mia," he yelled. He ran towards her, splashing water everywhere. As he got nearer to her, the little boy jumped into the woman's lap.

"Yuli," she shrieked in surprise. "You're all wet and cold. Get off of me!" He laughed and rolled off of her lap. "Here," she said as she playfully tossed a towel at him. "Dry yourself off." After he had dried off, he sat down in front for her.

"Mia," Yuli asked as she began rubbing lotion on his back. "How long have the guys been gone?"

She sighed as she thought about his question. "They've been gone for a little over a week."

"When will they be back," he asked. "I really miss them, especially White Blaze."

"I know you do," she replied. "I do too, Yuli." She turned him around to face her, and brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen into his face. "You shouldn't worry about them so much," she said gently. "They'll come back as soon as they can, I promise."

"Mia," he began.

"What is it," she asked.

"Do you think we can have some lunch now," he asked, seemingly forgetting the exchange they had just had.

"Sure," she said as she grabbed the picnic basket. "Lay out your towel next to mine."

"Can we go swimming after we're done," he asked hopefully.

"Sure," came her reply, "but we'll have to wait for half an hour before we go."

The Ancient looked over at them as Yuli danced around Mia. The rings on his staff clinked together almost inaudibly. _"Only through patience and time will I learn the meaning of the staff's behavior,"_ he thought to himself as he closed his eyes.

*****

"...And then the staff began to glow," Serena said. She was telling the Ronins and the girls about the dream she had the previous night. "I heard this ringing sound, and then a voice began talking to me. That's when I woke up."

"What did the voice say to you," Rei asked, a frown set on her face.

"I don't remember," Serena replied. "It said something like, _use the power inside of you_; whatever that means."

"It almost sounds like the Ancient," Sage commented. "What did the staff look like?"

"I don't know," she answered. "It was glowing too brightly. I didn't see any details. I just heard the ringing and the voice."

"Well, that definitely sounds like the Ancient's staff," Sai commented. "It's too big of a coincidence."

"Yeah, but what does it all mean," asked Rowen.

"Maybe Serena is the key to you getting home," Amy suggested. "The Silver crystal holds powers that we don't quite fully understand."

"What do you think it means, Luna," Serena asked the cat.

"I think it means trouble," Luna said. "Nothing good can come out of mysterious staffs and weird dreams."

"The power of the Ancient is as mysterious as the crystal sounds," Ryo said. "If, in fact, the staff in the dream is the Ancient's staff, then there will be nothing to worry about."

The friends sat in silence as each pondered over what Serena's dream might have meant. They decided to go outside to get some fresh air. For some reason, it had begun getting hot inside the Temple - almost suffocating.

"What's with the sudden heat wave," Lita asked.

"Perhaps I should answer that question," Dais said from his upside down hanging position in a tree.

"Dais," they all exclaimed. Suddenly, the ten warriors began to float up into the air. That's when they noticed that they were floating up towards one of Lady Kayura's portals. They looked back towards the ground when they heard her laughter.

"Ronin Warriors, Sailor Scouts, this drawn-out tedious, battle ends today," Kayura began. "Our time runs short, Warlords. Prepare yourselves." She folded her hands together with her index and middle fingers both sticking up in the air. Her eyes began to glow red as she whispered an incantation. The atmosphere turned black, and all fifteen warriors disappeared into the portal. As the black energy dissipated, the Ronins, Scouts, and Warlords found themselves in a forest. Animals scampered everywhere because of the sudden disturbance of the peace.

"This doesn't look good," Serena commented. "Sailor Scouts, transform!"

"Ronin Warriors, to arms," Ryo commanded. "Armor of Wildfire, tao jin!"

"Mars Star Power!"

"Kayura, this had better work," Kale warned.

"Armor of Halo, tao chi!"

"Jupiter Star Power!"

"For your sake, you'd better hope it does," Sekhmet commented.

"Armor of Torrent, tao shin!"

"Mercury Star Power!"

"We don't have time for you quarrel right now," Anubis growled. "Keep quiet, and stick to the plan."

"Armor of Hard Rock, tao gi!"

"Venus Star Power!"

"We shall be victorious in the name of our Master," Dais replied.

"Armor of Strata, tao inochi!"

"Moon Crystal Power!"

"They're done," Kayura said calmly as the Scouts and Ronins finished their transformations. The fifteen warriors stood facing each other. Behind the Warlords, a portal opened and literally hundreds of Dynasty soldier stepped out.

"Remember, Scouts, you take out those soldiers first," Ryo told them.

"Right," the Scouts said in unison.

"Now the real fun begins," Dais said.

"Take care of the Sailor Scouts," Kayura told the soldiers as she turned to face them. She released her swords from their sheath, and as they extended to their full length, she jumped into the air towards Ryo. He blocked just as she was about to land her hit. "You're very agile, Ronin," she complimented. "Let us finish our battle."

Kale leaped at Sage and landed in front of him. "You shall succumb to my dark lightning," he declared as he rose his sword. Sage twirled his own sword in a circular motion and fell into a defensive stance.

"We'll see, Kale," he replied confidently . . .

Sai dug his trident into the ground as Sekhmet kicked him roughly. He stood slowly and pulled his weapon out of the ground. Sekhmet stalked over to him and smirked. "Why we haven't been able to defeat you pests until now is beyond me," he said smugly.

"We'll defeat you yet, Warlord," Sai replied. He ducked as Rowen went flying past him. "Rowen, are you all right," Sai asked as he helped him up.

"Yeah," Rowen replied. He set an arrow on his bow and let it fly towards Anubis. Anubis, in turn, blocked it with his weapon.

"Is that all you've got, Rowen of Strata," he challenged. Anubis jumped back and Rowen followed him . . .

Kento and Dais were the only two warriors left who weren't yet fighting. _"Great,"_ Kento thought grimly. _"I'm stuck with Dais."_ He tossed his staff from hand to hand. "None of your tricks this time, Dais," Kento began. "Or do you always fight like a coward?"

"I'm going to take great joy in destroying you, Kento," Dais sneered. Dais jumped towards the Ronin with his weapon held up high in the air . . .

Meanwhile, the Scouts, who were completely surrounded by soldiers, stood back to back.

"None of these soldiers are part of an illusion," Mercury confirmed as she pushed her earring to make the visor slide back into place. "We've got to defeat them all." She crossed her arms across her chest. "Shine Aqua Illusion," she yelled as she sent her attack towards a group of soldiers.

"Mars Celestial Fire Surround," Mars shouted as her fire attack destroyed another group of soldiers.

The rod on Jupiter's tiara extended, and lightning came down from the sky. "Jupiter Thunder Crash," she yelled as she sent her attack flying.

"Venus Crescent Beam Shower," Venus shouted. She sighed as more soldiers filled in the place of the soldiers she had just destroyed. "This isn't working too well." The Scouts all jumped as five soldiers attacked simultaneously.

"Moon Scepter Elimination," Sailor Moon shouted. The blast came out from her scepter and destroyed a line of soldiers immediately. "Jump," she commanded the Scouts as she spun around in a circle. The technique was very effective, and it destroyed a majority of the soldiers.

"That was impressive," Jupiter complimented.

"Thanks," Sailor Moon said as the remaining soldiers regrouped. "We can finish these guys off. Moon Tiara Magic!" As the disk flew towards the soldiers, they jumped into the air, and out of harm's way. As Sailor Moon caught her tiara, a soldier swung his scythe and cut her on the side. The cut wasn't deep, but she still fell down in shock. The other Scouts were too busy to notice what had happened to their leader. 'Oh no, not again,' Sailor Moon thought frantically. The soldier rose his weapon a second time, and seemed to smirk down at her. Thinking quickly, Sailor Moon rolled out of the way and threw her tiara as the soldier brought his weapon down in the empty spot. Lightheaded from the loss of blood, she fell back into the grass and closed her eyes.

As the last of the soldiers were destroyed, the Scouts stood together. "Where's Sailor Moon," Venus asked. They saw her lying down in the grass, and rushed over to her. They all kneeled down beside her as they reached her.

"She's fine," Mercury said as she checked for a pulse. The Scouts stood and got into fighting stances as a rustling sound came from some nearby bushes.

"White Blaze," Mars exclaimed as the tiger came bounding out. "How in the world did you find us?" The girls gathered around him and stroked the tiger lovingly.

"We should go help the Ronins," Jupiter suggested as she glanced over in their direction. They were fairing well, however it was apparent that they were growing tired. "White Blaze, stay here with Sailor Moon." The tiger obediently sat down next to the fainted girl as he watched the Scouts run off . . .

"Snake Fang Strike," Sekhmet screamed as he attacked Sai. The multiple attacks hit him, and he stumbled to the ground. "I win this, Ronin!"

"Mercury Bubbles Freeze," Mercury yelled. Sekhmet was frozen solid as he was taken by surprise.

"Coming to my rescue again, I see," Sai said as Mercury helped him stand.

"What are friends for," she asked. They both looked over at Sekhmet as the ice began to chip away. Sai gently pushed Mercury to the side.

"Super Wave Smasher," he shouted. The attack washed over the Warlord, and when it cleared, he was unconscious on the ground . . .

"Kento, duck," Mars shouted. She threw an ofuda at Dais, and he was paralyzed on the spot. "Are you alright, Kento?"

"Yeah," he replied. "But Dais made an illusion. That wasn't him." He smiled evilly as the illusion wore off.

"Dais," Mars gasped, stepping back in shock.

"Play with fire, and you get burned," Dais commented. "Web of Deception!" Mars screamed as the attack hit her. Behind Dais, Kento was back on his feet. Rocks began to float up into the air as he swung his staff.

"Iron Rock Crusher," Kento shouted as he slammed his weapon on the ground. The attack took Dais by surprise, and he went crashing through some trees. Kento rushed over to Mars' side. "Are you ok," he asked as he helped her to her feet.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied. "I'm really sorry for attacking you."

"That's okay," he assured her. "I should have known Dais would resort to his tricks . . . What I don't get is why I didn't stay paralyzed."

"Well, that's because you're pure-hearted," she explained. "My evil seals don't work on someone who's good. It only stuns them briefly." Mars pulled the bow from her hair and wrapped it around the ankle she had twisted . . .

Meanwhile, Venus watched as Rowen and Anubis exchanged punches. Anubis threw his weapon towards Rowen, and he blocked it with his bow. _"Be careful, Rowen,"_ Venus thought to herself.

Anubis grunted in frustration. "I'm through playing, Rowen of Strata," he screamed. "Quake With Fear!" He threw the scythe-like end of his weapon and it hit Rowen directly in the chest. The weapon began to glow, and Rowen screamed as chains appeared all over his body. Anubis breathed heavily as he watched Rowen fall to the ground.

"Venus Love Chain Encircle," Venus yelled as the attack wrapped around Anubis. "Let's see how you like it, Anubis," she told the Warlord. "In the name of the planet Venus, I'll punish you for hurting my friend!" She began to glow as she raised her arm in the air. "Venus Crescent Beam Smash!"

"NO," Anubis shouted. He tried to dodge the attack, but it was too late. As he fell to the ground, Venus went to Rowen's side to help him remove the chains . . .

"Forget it, Kale," Sage said as their swords clashed together. "I've got you beaten." He took a quick glance towards his friends, and Kale took the opportunity to attack.

"Black Lighting Strike," Kale shouted. The attack hit a surprised Sage. As he was thrown back, Sage dropped his weapon, and fell facedown onto the ground. Kale strode over to him, and looked down at the fallen warrior. "Pathetic," he commented. Suddenly, he felt two arms lock around his waist. He felt himself being flung backwards, and then grimaced as a knee dug into his stomach. He looked at his attacker. "What . . . what do you think you're doing, girl," he demanded as he stood on shaky legs. Jupiter stood in front of him with a smile on her face.

"I'm finishing with you what I didn't finish at the school with your buddy, Anubis," she replied. "Jupiter Thunder Dragon!" Kale was too weak to move, and he watched in horror as the attack drew nearer. As Kale fell to the ground, Jupiter made her way towards Sage.

*****

Sailor Moon slowly opened her eyes as something rough and wet touched her cheek. "White Blaze," she murmured as the tiger came into focus. He nudged her with his nose and she sat up. She looked in the general direction where the battle was taking place and noticed that the only people fighting were Ryo and Kayura. "Come on, White Blaze," she told the tiger. She used him to pick herself up and grasped her side at the sudden wave of pain. "Looks like we're winning," she commented. She slowly began to make her way towards the fight, with White Blaze following close behind.

"How's Ryo doing," Venus asked as she and Rowen joined the group. Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Kento, Sage, and Sai had grouped together to watch the battle between Ryo and Lady Kayura.

"Pretty good, actually," Sai commented. "But he's beginning to get tired. I don't know how much more he'll be able to stand."

"What's going on," Sailor Moon asked as she joined the warriors.

"Serena, what happened," Kento asked, totally forgetting that she was in her transformed state. Although no one else was around, it still shocked her to hear him call her by her name.

"It's just a little scratch, Kento," she replied. "Nothing a little bit of rest can't fix." She placed a hand on his arm gently as he began to make another remark. "How long has this been going on?"

"For about as long as you were unconscious. I'd say for about twenty minutes," Mars replied. There was no hint of malice or discontentment in the way she answered. If anything, it was concern. That brought a smile to Sailor Moon's face.

"Well, it looks like you've all done your part," she commented to her tattered companions. "I guess it's my turn." She began to walk towards Ryo and Kayura, however Sage stopped her.

"You can't do that," he told her. "They're finishing their fight from earlier."

Sailor Moon frowned and stepped forward. "But . . ."

"No buts about it," Mercury interjected. "Luna told you specifically not to put yourself in any reckless danger, and we intend to make sure you don't."

Ryo and Kayura jumped apart from each other as she blocked one of his hits. "You're getting sloppy, Wildfire," she panted. "Let this come to an end." Once again, she began to move her weapons in an up and down motion. She closed her eyes as the wind picked up around. She opened them once again and her eyes had a glazed look. "Star Sword Scream!" A pillar of dark, swirling energy came twisting towards Ryo, and he gasped in surprise.

"Flare Up Now," he shouted. Ryo threw his attack towards Kayura's attack. They seemed to struggle for superiority before Kayura's attack finally overcame his, and crashed into Ryo.

"Aah," Ryo screamed as he fell back. He struggled to stand however he fell down to his knees. "Ronin … Warriors . . . give me your … power," he stammered.

"What's happening," Kayura demanded as Ryo began to glow red. The Scouts looked on in awe as the Ronins began to glow. Sage was green, Sai was light blue, Kento was orange, and Rowen was dark blue.

"Wisdom," Sage began.

"Trust," Sai added.

"Justice," Kento said.

"Life-force," Rowen finished. The four colors faded as they formed into balls of energy. They floated over to Ryo and hovered above him.

"Witness the true power of the Ronin Warriors, Lady Kayura," Ryo said. "Virtue!" The balls of energy seemed to disappear into Ryo's body. As the Armor of Wildfire disappeared, Ryo's body took on a bright, white glow. White Blaze ran to Ryo's side as he, too, began to glow. "Armor of Inferno, tao jin!" The glow surrounding Ryo's body intensified as multicolored armor appeared on him. When the glowing stopped, Ryo was wearing the mystical white armor, and White Blaze had transformed into Black Blaze.

"Ryo . . . o-of Inferno," Kayura asked in a confused voice. "How can that be?"

"That's right, Kayura," he replied as he removed the Swords of Fervor from the sheaths on Black Blaze's back. "Now our fight ends!" He put the hilts of the two swords together and jumped into the air. "Rage of Inferno!" This attack was twice as powerful as his other attack, and Kayura had no time to react.

"M-Master Talpa, I have failed you," she stuttered as she fell unconscious.

All of the Ronins reverted back to their sub-armor as their powers were returned to them. "You did it, Ryo," Mars said as she threw her arms around his neck. He returned her hug, and patted White Blaze, who had also returned to his original form, on his head.

"Well, it's finally over," Ryo said, relieved.

"Yeah, but how are we going to get home," Kento asked.

Suddenly, the sky darkened, and a booming voice was heard. "You have failed me once again," Talpa said. "Return to me, my dark Warlords." One by one, the Warlords and Kayura disappeared. Then, as fast as the darkness had swept over the forest, it was gone.

"Talpa . . . TALPA," Ryo screamed.

"Ryo, it'll be okay," Mars said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find a way for you to get home."

"Yeah, but look at the destruction we caused to this place," he replied, gesturing to the forest. It looked like a barren wasteland. Trees were overturned and the vegetation was singed from fire. "We did all this . . . and for what?"

"Everything will turn out fine, Ryo," Sailor Moon said. He was about to make a comment, however the words froze in his throat as he looked at her. The crescent moon on her forehead shined brightly, and she held the Silver Emperial Crystal in her hands at arm's length. "Moon Crystal Power," she said softly.

A pure light emitted from the crystal, and the light seemed to engulf everything it touched. As the light faded, the Moon Princess stood in the place Sailor Moon had been. The light that spread over the land seemed to have worked like a magic wand. The forest appeared unscathed, as if the battle between the warriors and the Warlords had never occurred. Even the Ronins and Scouts were healed of their injuries.

"Princess Serenity," the Scouts said in unison, kneeling down on one knee.

"Wow, she's beautiful," Kento breathed almost inaudibly. Serenity turned towards him slightly and gave him a small smile.

"I understand my dream, now," she told them. "The power of the crystal and the Ancient joined together will return you to your own time."

"You can't do that," Venus said forcefully, as she and the other Scouts quickly stood up. "The energy drain from using the crystal will _kill _you!"

Ryo looked confused for a moment, and then a frown set upon his face. "Is that true, Princess," he asked.

"No, of course not. I'll be fine," Serenity replied. She looked up towards the sky. "I'm ready, Ancient One." She raised the crystal above her head as a phantom image of the Ancient's staff appeared. "Cosmic Moon Power!" The wind whipped her hair across her face at the sudden burst of power from both the crystal and the Ancient's staff. As the energy from the two unfathomable powers joined together, a multicolored portal was opened. "Hurry, Ronin Warriors, and say your good-byes. The portal won't stay open for long," Serenity warned.

No words were really needed as the Scouts and Ronins said their farewells. Hugs and kisses were exchanged, and tears were shed. Even White Blaze seemed to be saddened by the ordeal. As the Ronins and White Blaze went to stand by the portal, Kento walked back over to Serenity and hugged her one last time. They stared at each other for a long time. She kissed him on his cheek and pushed him gently towards the others.

"We'll miss you, Ronin Warriors," she said, her expression saddened as the Scouts stood behind her. "You'll always have a special place in our hearts. Forever."

"Maybe we'll meet again some day," Ryo said.

"Only in your dreams," Mars replied light-heartedly. The Ronins smiled and waved. Then, as they stepped into the portal, they were gone in a flash of light.

*****

"Ryo. Ryo, please wake up," Yuli shouted as the boy shook him repeatedly. Ryo groggily opened his eyes, and he found himself staring up into the faces of Mia and Yuli.

"What happened," Ryo asked as he stiffly sat up. "Where are the others?"

"They're right over there," Mia said as she pointed behind her. "As for what happened, maybe you should tell me. Yuli and I were walking down here by the lake, and that's when we found you and the other Ronins."

"Oh," was all he could say. _"It must have all been a dream,"_ he thought bitterly. _"Just a dream."_

After several minutes of silence, Yuli spoke. "Ryo, who are these people in this picture," he asked as he tugged on Ryo's sleeve. Ryo looked down at the picture the boy was holding and smiled. In Yuli's hand was the picture Serena had taken accidentally.

"Yuli, where did you find this," he asked the boy.

"It fell out of your pocket," Yuli replied. "Who are they? They're really pretty."

"These people are friends that mean a lot to me and the guys," Ryo replied with a smile. "Maybe you'll get the chance to meet them some day."

"Really, Ryo," Yuli asked.

"Yes, anything is possible," he replied.

__

Fin.

****

AN - _I hope you all enjoyed the ending to my fanfic. I hope it wasn't too disappointing. Liked it? Didn't like it? Let me know! Don't forget to leave your comments, please!_


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